Penny For Your Thoughts
by MadLadyFenolo
Summary: Penny Masters. English scientist recruited by SHIELD in their time of need. What will happen when the timid scientist comes face to face with master of anger management: Bruce Banner? Only time will tell. Well. Time, and perhaps the possible cure for a certain Hulk-ish condition. Rated M for possible mature themes. Set during the Avengers movie. (OC x Bruce Banner)
1. Prologue: The One-Eyed Man

**AN: ****Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Marvel universe. Sadly. *sighs and wishes she could own Bruce Banner* I do, however, own my OC's, mainly: Penny Masters. **

**Enjoy!**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

**Prologue: The One-Eyed Man**

Penny Masters walked through the large doors of the Helicarrier lab and had to stop herself.

Everywhere there was science. _Everywhere. _The computerised screens that covered every available surface, the engineering of the placement of the room, right by a large window overlooking the sky…the _toys! _Penny could barely contained her excitement as her gaze wandered over the many, many, _many _gadgets and doodads that were scattered about the room. It was a scientist's haven.

Pushing her dark-rimmed glasses up her nose, she glanced down at the clipboard in her hand, scanning over the file. Perhaps they'd sent her to the wrong room? Surely, she wasn't in the right room?

'You are indeed in the right room, Dr Masters.' At a deep voice, Penny glanced up from her folder, spinning to find a tall, broad-shouldered, black man with an eye patch standing before her.

_What on earth? _'Did you just…?' her English accented voice inquired.

'Read your mind?' the man finished, shaking his head. 'Afraid not. SHIELD hasn't developed that kind of technology. Yet.' He strode over to her, his long, black leather jacket flapping slightly. 'I just took an educated guess. I'm Director Fury, and I'm the reason you're here.' His tone was formal, contained, and above all else – authoritative.

'Dr Masters – er Penny Masters. Well, you already knew that – _obviously_. Haha…' she laughed nervously. '_You're_ the boss.' Penny found herself stuttering, and offered her free hand to the imposing man in an effort to redeem herself. He stared at it suspiciously for a moment before wrapping his large hand around her much smaller one, shaking it firmly.

'That I am. It's a pleasure to meet you at last. I've heard good things about you, Doctor.'

'Oh!' He had? That wasn't concerning at all… 'Well, the feeling's mutual. About the pleasure, I mean. I know nothing about _you_. I'm afraid I don't have the same resources as you do…' Penny had no doubt that the man before her would have delved deep into her past before offering her a job here on the Helicarrier. She wondered worriedly just _how _deep. And what her job was, hadn't been entirely clear…

'Well, now you do,' Fury said with a glance around the room. 'This space is free for your use – although you'll be sharing the space with another…scientist.'

_Well. Doesn't that sound a bit ominous?_ Penny didn't entirely trust the way Fury had said the word "scientist". Like there was something more there.

'You'll have unlimited access to all that the lab has to offer when we need your assistance. Which we undoubtedly will…' the Director said, almost bitterly.

_Ah. _'Speaking of which…' Penny clicked a pen, and hovered it over a clean sheet of paper. 'What is it, exactly, that you want me to do?'

'I want you to develop a cure.'

_Uh…_ 'A…cure?' Penny asked, unsure as to what he was asking for. She gave a hesitant laugh. 'A cure for what? Cancer, Parkinsons? I'm afraid you'll have to be a tad more specific.' She was glad her voice didn't shake. She might find Fury incredibly intimidating, but he certainly didn't need to know to what extent.

Fury crossed his arms. 'How much do you know about gamma radiation?'

**AN: ****Alright. I'm breaking one of my biggest rules here, but I've decided to start another fic in the middle of writing a different one. What can I say? – inspiration commands, I follow. I won't be updating this one as often as the other, but I promise to work on it whenever inspiration hits/I find the time :D**

**Bruce Banner is probably my favourite Avenger. Aside from Tony, who is just adorable with his cocky attitude and awesome sense of humour, but I reckon Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner is just about my favourite thing in the Marvel-verse. Ever. Aside from maybe Sebastian Stan as Bucky. And Chris Evans as Captain America. And Robert Downey Jr. And Tom Hiddleston. Well. I have a lot of favourite things…**

**I also don't/haven't read the comics, so I apologise if I get things wrong/screw things up. This is just a fic based on the movies.**

**This chapter is also super, duper short. I promise they'll be quite a lot more substantial in the future. I'm just setting things up.**

**If you liked it, Follow/Review. I'd appreciate it a lot, and I hope you enjoyed! (next chapter will be coming soon, since this was so short)**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


	2. Chapter 1: Meet The Patient

**AN: ****Hey there! Here's another chapter, since the other one was ridiculously short. This chapter has a lot of movie dialogue in it, but for the sake of the story line, it kinds needs it. I'll try to keep that sort of thing to a minimum, but I need Penny in some of the situations from the movie, since it's set during then.**

**Enjoy!**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

**1. Meet The Patient**

'Oh. Er…not much, I'm afraid. My talents lie more along the lines of preventing disease, outbreaks…mammalian health and psychology. Specifically human emotion. Although I suppose gamma radiation is _irrevocably_ linked to health, I mean, the implications _alone_. But I – ' Penny stopped herself, realising that her words were falling on deaf ears. 'I'm sorry. I'm rambling. You probably don't have the time to listen to m – '

'You're right. I _don't _have the time,' Fury said shortly, and Penny tried not to flinch. At least he was honest…

'Of course. Is there anything else you need from me? Anything you'd like me to do in preparation?' Penny pushed her glasses up her nose and fiddled with the end of her long, dark brown plait that hung over her right shoulder.

'Well for starters, read up on gamma radiation. You're gonna need the know-how. Aside from that…' Fury seemed to think for a moment. 'May I inquire as to how good your people skills are, Doctor?' The conversation took a sharp swerve, and Penny struggled to remain focused on what he was asking.

'Uh…they're alright, I suppose. Well. I _am _a scientist, so I wouldn't say it's my _strongest_ suit, exactly…'

'What about dealing with distressed animals?' he inquired. It was just one strange question after another with this man.

'Well, animals are an entirely different story. Animals and I get along just fine.'

'Excellent. Then you won't mind me asking if you'll accompany an agent of ours – and several operatives – to India tomorrow?'

Penny couldn't handle it anymore. 'P-pardon?' she asked timidly. 'India, did you say?'

'Yes, India,' Fury said, sounding irritated. 'That's where we'll be collecting your patient. Time is of the essence, Doctor.'

'Patient?' she inquired, voice rising in pitch. 'Uh…'

'Indeed. I promise everything will be explained once he's on board, but I need to know that _you _are on board, more metaphorically speaking, Dr Masters.'

Penny let a puff of air out. Well. That _was _the million-dollar question, wasn't it? Was she prepared to go down whatever mysterious path this mysterious organisation had mysteriously asked of her? The lab alone was enough to make her wonder just how _much_ money the government was throwing at SHIELD, and now a shadowy cure that she had to concoct? Everything screamed secret government agency, and she didn't know if she wanted to go down that path. Penny and governments didn't really get along…

But didn't she want to know what Fury was talking about? Therein lay the hook. There was so much mystery surrounding her currently, it would be impossible for her scientist's mind not to reach out and snatch at the opportunity to learn something new. Perhaps Fury didn't realise, but just by omitting to tell her everything, he'd caught her interest in this enigma wrapped in an unknown, disguised as a mystery.

Of bloody _course _she was on board.

**The Next Day:**

Penny felt sick.

It wasn't that she hated flying. Penny loved flying. She had fond memories of travelling by plane to Germany to visit her grandparents when she was a child. No, it was her destination that worried her. They were flying headfirst into a sprawling Indian city, in the hopes of finding one of the – apparently – most elusive men that SHIELD had ever tried to find. Then they were to extract him, and then bring him back to Penny's lab for her to develop a cure for. With as little fuss as possible. She still had no idea what she was supposed to be _curing, _but she doubted it was anything cheerful.

All that she'd read about gamma radiation over the past twenty-four hours screamed: **warning, danger, wrong way, turn back!**But apparently, that didn't stop Fury from wanting what he wanted. Penny had no idea what he wanted from her.

It didn't help that they had what appeared to be an entire garrison of soldiers with them. That only increased Penny's unease further. All she'd been told was that they were trying to talk to a man somewhere in Calcutta. She knew nothing about him, knew nothing about Calcutta, and with every second that passed, her fear grew. Why did they need so many soldiers just to speak to one man?!

The woman who was in charge of the mission – someone called Agent Romanoff – spoke over the speaker system and Penny jumped at the sudden noise in her headphones that cut across the sound helicopter blades.

'Alright, we're about to land, Dr Masters. Director Fury wants me to let you know that you're going to be coming in with me to speak to Banner.'

_Banner? Was that the man's name? _

_ Hold on. Did she just say that I would be accompanying her? _'Pardon?' Penny exclaimed, gripping the strap of her harness tightly. 'Did you just say I'd be going with you?!'

The woman nodded in the front seat, and Penny caught a glimpse of her scarlet hair, bouncing with the motion. 'Don't ask me why. Director's orders.'

_Right. And whatever the Director asks, gets done, _Penny thought bitterly to herself. In the past two days, Penny had come to the realisation that she didn't like Director Fury. Not one bit. He was far _too _mysterious for her. And bossy.

'O-okay,' Penny said softly, and then louder so Romanoff could hear her. 'Alright!'

Romanoff nodded in acknowledgement and then set about the task of landing, organising the copters, and generally making sure everything ran smoothly. Penny had to admit, she was slightly in awe of the agent. She was so confident and self-sure in everything she did. Not to mention she _totally _pulled off the leather bodysuit look flawlessly. If Penny tried that, it would simply hang off her.

Pulling her silk shawl – part of a disguise that both she and Romanoff were wearing to blend in – around her tighter, she prepared herself for landing. Or, she thought she did. It was only when Romanoff opened the door on her side that she realised they'd already landed. Romanoff was _that_ good.

Penny unbuckled herself and stepped out of the helicopter, glancing around her. They were in a fairly spacious area, although the city sprawled in all directions just beyond the rundown house that the SHIELD agents were proceeding to surround from the back. She followed Agent Romanoff until they came to the back door of the building, and the agent glanced her over.

'Are you alright?' Romanoff asked, and Penny nodded. 'You look kinda pale,' the Russian observed.

'Oh, it's nothing, Agent Romanoff. I'm just a bit nervous. I just know nothing about the man we're about to meet,' she said honestly. 'My…patient.'

Romanoff shook her head in astonishment. 'Nothing? Fury really chose to keep the kiddie wheels on with you, didn't he? Either that or he's trying to get you killed,' she said with a joking laugh, and Penny smiled weakly. _That_ was an encouraging thought.

Romanoff pushed the door open, making sure there was no one there, gun at the ready, and then stepped inside. She beckoned for Penny to follow, and she followed suit, feeling the heavy weight of her own gun at her hip, loathing that it had been forced upon her by the other woman. 'Just in case,' Romanoff has said. Just in case _what? _Just in case _one_ man managed to overpower Agent Romanoff, and the countless other men outside? _Yeah, because that was so likely_, Penny thought with a smirk.

Romanoff ducked behind a hanging sheet from the ceiling, and gestured that Penny do the same on her side. She complied and ducked behind the dirty, but brightly patterned cloth just as she heard small footsteps approaching. _Small footsteps? _Who were they there to see, a midget?

Romanoff held a finger to her lips to signal quiet, and held up her gun, gesturing that Penny should pull hers out. Grudgingly, Penny gripped the cold metal gun and brought it to shoulder height.

Over the day, someone had taught her to use it, although its presence just added to her unease. Just as she pulled it out, a small girl with long, dark hair dashed past her, brushing the edge of the cloth she was hiding behind. The child disappeared into a hole in the wall, and Penny heard the sound of heavier footsteps following, slowly coming to a halt.

She turned her head back to look at Romanoff and realised that the sheet had been completely dislodged from its fastening to the ceiling. Romanoff's eyes widened as the sheet fell, almost in slow-motion, and softly landed on the ground, leaving Penny completely exposed, gun in hand.

'I should have known,' said a soft voice, tinged with sadness.

Penny's glance slid to the man now facing her, and she smiled weakly. _Shit. _

He was quite handsome. Tall height, broad shoulders, a square, kind face and dark brown, curling hair.

'H-hi,' she said shakily, and moved to push her glasses up her nose with her hand when she remembered the gun. 'Oh!' she exclaimed, and realised that the man was looking at it with a stony expression. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to – '

'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' he interrupted. His voice was exasperated and he took a step forward, anger clouding his handsome face. Penny didn't know why, but she moved back, putting one foot behind her. Instantly, she realised her mistake as her foot caught on the edge of the cloth that had been concealing her. She stumbled backwards, falling and landing on her behind with a soft _thud._ She dropped the gun and landed with muffled squeak of surprise, more than pain.

Shakily, she got back on her feet, gun forgotten, and she glanced to her side, seeing Romanoff staring at her, eyes wide with apprehension. The agent signalled something at her, but she had no idea what it meant. Then Romanoff mouthed: '_Convince him to join SHIELD.'_

_ What?_

Quickly, Penny turned her gaze back to the man in front of her, and saw his sceptical look. 'They sent…_you?' _he inquired.

'Uh…' she began. 'Hello,' she started, pleased there was no quiver in her voice. 'My name is Penny Masters. _Doctor _Penny Masters, I mean. Sorry. I'm not very good with introductions.' Out of the corner of her eye, Penny thought she spied Romanoff rolling her eyes. Penny stuck her hand out. 'And you are…?'

The man looked at her hand dubiously, and then pointedly ignored it. _Well then. _If he wanted to play it this way, that was fine with Penny. She tossed her dark brown hair slightly, her plait falling over her right shoulder. His refusal to shake her hand gave her a righteous sort of courage. '_Something_ Banner, I presume,' she said with a slight glare.

'_Dr_ Banner,' the man said and nodded at her, although he was still giving her a strange look. _Oh? _So he was a fellow scientist, then?

'Well, _Dr Banner_, I'm here as an emissary of SHIELD, and I…' _Lie,_ she scolded._ Not an emissary. A scientist, who is _way _out of her depth. _She faltered.'I'm here to ask you if you would consider – '

'No,' he said shortly, his intelligent, dark brown eyes flashing. 'I've already told you people a hundred times – _No. _I've been happy. I've been working, healing people, _helping_ people. I haven't had an incident in over a year.'

_Incident? _'Well, I'm not sure about any incident, but I _am _sure that if you'll just listen to my proposal, I can convince you…?' It sounded more like a question than an argument, but the doctor seemed to pause. Penny cleared her throat. 'Like I said, I'm an emissary for SHIELD, and I – '

'Don't lie to me, please, Dr Masters,' Banner said suddenly, and Penny saw his jaw clench. 'You always lie, every single time. And it never, _ever_ works.'

Penny fumbled for words. 'I-I'm not sure I know what you're talking about, Dr Banner, but I can assure you that – '

'If you're an emissary then I'm the gentle giant,' he said quietly, but there was something behind his words, something darker, although Penny didn't know what. She sighed, and stared at her feet momentarily.

'You're right,' she said with a defeated slump to her shoulders. 'I'm not an emissary. _Anyone _could tell that. Have you noticed my people skills? I'm usually much more eloquent.' She took a few steps towards Dr Banner, and saw his brown eyes widen. 'But I _do _want to convince you to join us, or at least talk to someone who really knows what's going on. _I _certainly don't. I didn't even know your proper title until just moments ago.'

Banner was _still_ staring at her strangely. Penny took this as a good sign and pushed on. 'And I _do _work for SHIELD. They just want to talk to you. Something about joining them, something about me trying to find a cure for you – whatever _that _means – and something that the agent standing behind the cloth over there knows much more about than me.' Penny pointed towards where Romanoff was still hidden and almost heard an audible growl of frustration from the Russian.

Seconds later, the red-haired woman stepped out from behind the screen, gun nowhere in sight.

'Hello Dr Banner.' Romanoff's voice was steady, although from where she was standing, Penny could see her eyelids flickering nervously. The impressive agent was _nervous? _Just who was this man? 'Dr Masters here _is_ telling you the truth.'

Penny turned back to Banner, whose expression had fallen, now gazing Romanoff. Penny took a step away from him. She hadn't realised she was less than a metre away from him now, and Romanoff seemed to notice it too.

'Dr Masters, if you could join me on this side of the room, please,' she suggested.

'Oh, no, don't bother yourself,' Banner remarked. 'I wouldn't want to trouble either of you.' He shook his head in disgust. 'Military scientists and agents. With you, it's just lie after lie.' He took a step forward. 'That little girl, _she _was a lie, wasn't she?'

Romanoff remained silent, and Penny recalled the small girl who'd accidentally broken her cover. 'Oh, actually, her father really _is _sick,' Penny began. 'But we've already sent doctors as payment for her servi – '

'Dr Masters, if you would be quiet and let the _real _emissary talk now, that would be great,' Romanoff snapped, and Penny scowled at her. _Fine_. 'Should have got paid up front, Banner,' the doctor murmured to himself, his mouth pulled in a tight smile.

Romanoff continued, talking to the other doctor now. 'You know, for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress, you sure picked a hell of a place to settle.' The agent looked completely calm now, wrapped in the Indian silks that Penny and Romanoff had donned to blend in. Penny knew there were multiple weapons hidden beneath those silks, though.

'Avoiding stress isn't the secret,' Banner said evenly, putting his bag down.

'Then what is it? Yoga?' Romanoff asked sarcastically. Penny frowned. She had no idea what they were talking about, but she guessed it was something big. She was clearly missing a vital piece of information here somewhere.

'You brought me to the edge of the city. Smart,' Banner congratulated, although his voice was bitter as he peered out the windows. 'I…uh…assume the whole place is surrounded?' he asked, glancing towards the door.

Romanoff shook her head, and removed her silk shawl, tossing it to the side. 'Just you and me. And her,' she nodded towards Penny, who resented the third wheel afterthought she was referred to as.

'And your actress buddy, is she a spy too? Do they start that young?' At first, Penny thought Banner was talking about her, but then realised he meant the little girl from earlier.

'I did,' Romanoff said shortly, shrugging.

'Who are you?

'Natasha Romanoff.' So her first name was Natasha? Penny almost smiled. It was pretty. She liked that name.

Banner looked down at his hands. 'Are you here to kill me, Miss Romanoff?' he inquired and Penny blanched.

'What? _No!' _she exclaimed, but it was like she didn't exist anymore. Banner and Romanoff were having their own little private discussion without her.

'Because that's _not_ gonna work out for everyone,' Banner said and Penny felt her eyes widen. What was he talking about?

'No, no,' Natasha protested, 'Of course not. I'm here on behalf of SHIELD. Like Dr Masters said.'

'So it really _is_ SHIELD,' Banner mused, as if he'd thought Penny was lying. 'How did they find me?'

'We never lost you, Doctor. We've kept our distance. Even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent,' Natasha explained. _Oh? _This was news to Penny. She'd been told that Banner was almost impossible to find. Guess that was one of many lies she'd been told by SHIELD. She tried not to hold it against them. Secret government organisations and all that jazz.

'Why?' Banner asked suspiciously.

Natasha shrugged. 'Nick Fury seems to trust you. But now we need you to come in.'

_Nick? _What was it with first names around here?

Banner smiled tightly. 'What if I say no?'

'I'll persuade you,' Romanoff said confidently. Her entire approach had been formal, strict, but also…gentle? Why would the agent be gentle? It didn't seem like it was her nature to be so.

Banner nodded. 'And what if the…_Other Guy _says no?'

_Other Guy? _Was there someone else in the room? Penny frowned. 'Other Guy?' she asked softly, and Banner sent her a fleeting look of confusion.

'You've been more than a year without an incident. I don't think you wanna break that streak,' Natasha said with a smile.

Again with the "incident". What the hell was going on here?

'Well, I don't every time get what I want,' Banner admitted and Romanoff glanced at Penny.

'Doctor, we're facing a potential global catastrophe here,' she said persuasively, taking a mobile from her pocket and scanning through it for something.

Banner laughed weakly. 'Well those I _actively_ try to avoid.'

'This is the Tesseract,' Romanoff said, pulling up a picture of a blue, glowing box. 'It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet.' She sat down at a table and put the phone down in front of her.

Penny gasped. This was the first she'd heard of it. Something that powerful…Banner glanced at the female doctor briefly again as he slid on a pair of glasses, before refocusing on the image, picking up the phone. 'What does Fury want me to do, _swallow_ it?' he said sarcastically, and Penny smiled, although she didn't know why. Him swallowing the box would be physically impossible, after all. She was even more surprised to see that he returned her smile. Her face went blank. She hadn't realised that he'd been watching her so closely.

'Well, he wants you to find it. It's been taken,' Natasha continued. 'It omits a gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace.' Banner sent her a look and she shrugged. 'No one knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that's where I'd be.'

_Interesting. _The entire situation was getting more and _more _mysterious, if possible.

Banner seemed to mull things over in his mind, and he pulled his glasses off. 'So, Fury isn't after the monster?'

_Monster? Okay, this is just too weird. _

'Not that he's told me,' Natasha admitted, and Penny sent her a look. What on earth was she talking about?

'And he tells _you_ everything?' Banner inquired with a knowing smirk. _Jeez. _This guy was a little bit of a douche. Although it appeared that all he wanted was to be left alone. Penny could appreciate that.

Agent Romanoff ignored his words and pushed on. 'Talk to Fury,' she suggested. 'He needs you on this.'

'Needs me in a cage?' Banner inquired politely, and Penny felt the uneasy feeling in her stomach return. What was he talking about? _Incidents, Other Guys, monsters, cages? _Just who was this guy? She started to get the feeling that she was completely out of her depth…

Romanoff cast a worried glance at Penny, who was still standing close to the doctor. 'No one's gonna put you in a – '

Banner brought his fists down the table. 'Stop _lying _to me!' he shouted.

Penny jumped about a foot in the air and gave a squeak at the exact moment that Romanoff pulled a gun out from beneath the table top. Banner slowly looked at the agent up then stood back, smiling almost boyishly, raising his hands slightly in defence. 'I'm sorry, that was mean,' he apologised. 'I just wanted to see what you'd do.' He held his hands out to her in a peace-offering and Penny noticed for the first time that there was fear in the agent's eyes, her entire body tensed to shoot. What had Natasha so scared? Surely it wasn't this guy?

Penny felt her confusion spiral out of control. Why was Natasha aiming at a clearly unarmed man? She took a step between the agent and the doctor, facing Romanoff. She saw the agent's eyes widen and Penny spoke as she placed a hand on Banner's arm before speaking to Natasha. 'Now, just hold on for a second, Agent – '

Banner ripped his arm away from her and Penny spun with a small intake of breath. She swore that his eyes flashed a different colour and he took a step backwards. _Green?_ What on earth was going on here?

The doctor stared down at her hand, which was still outstretched towards him, and Penny hastily lowered it. She felt his gaze boring into her and she glanced away, uneasy under his open stare.

After a long second of further staring, Banner glanced up at Romanoff and tilted his head. 'Why don't we do this the easy way, where you don't use that, and the Other Guy doesn't make a mess? Okay?' Banner suggested, speaking to the agent like it was _she _who had a gun pointed at her. 'Natasha?' he prompted, and Penny saw the agent's gun waver slightly.

After a pregnant pause, Romanoff lowered her gun, and she brought her hand to her ear. 'Stand down. We're good here,' she said softly. Almost instantly, Penny heard multiple clicking sounds and realised that the run down shack had indeed been surrounded. And aimed at.

Banner rose an eyebrow. 'Just you and me?' he admonished the agent, and while Penny thought she might have some kind of witty comeback, all Romanoff did was stand there, looking at Banner…_nervously._

'Uh…I don't know if you hadn't really noticed but I…' Penny felt both the gazes of Dr Banner and Agent Romanoff fall on her. Penny swallowed hard, her mouth gone strangely dry. 'Would it be possible for someone to tell me what the _hell _is going on here?'

**AN: ****Phew! So. There's your first proper chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, and this is the more what the usual length of the chapters will be. Hope you thought everything was alright – Bruce personality-wise. I think Penny's in for a rude shock, don't you? ;)**

**Please read/review/follow/favourite! It makes me so very happy :D**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

**AN: I just realised I totally spelled the Black Widow's name incorrectly 0_o **

**So I fixed it. - SORRY!**

**xxx**

**~Fen~**


	3. Chapter 2: Hello Mr Hulk, Sir

**2. Hello Mr Hulk, Sir**

Penny was flustered.

As soon as they'd arrived back at the Helicarrier, she hunted down Fury. Or at least _tried _to hunt him down. The aircraft was _ginormous. _She'd been told by Agent Romanoff in clipped words that Dr Banner would be briefed and prepped and then sent to her lab the following day. Well. _Their _lab. He was the other person she would be sharing a space with, apparently, and he'd disappeared before she could say two more words to him, carted off by a security team of agents. He seemed like a genuinely nice person. Despite all the mystery and confusion she had about what had happened in Calcutta, she found that she liked him. It probably didn't hurt that she found him attractive, either.

_No, _she mentally berated herself._ Rule Number One: Do not fall for the patient._

Unfortunately, as she wandered about the Helicarrier, she found herself thinking about all the odd looks he'd sent her when they met, and of how poorly she'd handled the entire situation. And when he'd just _stared _at her, after she stepped in to help. His eyes. They'd flashed _green, _she was sure of it.

She started theorising about what kinds of reasoning could be behind the change in colour. _Some kind of mutation? Chemicals? Hormone imbalance? Fluctuation in…something? Whatever caused them to turn green from those chocolately brown eyes must have been…_

And just like that, she was thinking about his "chocolatey brown" eyes. Penny mentally slapped herself. She was on a _mission_, for heaven's sake! No time for distractions. Even if they were a pair of particularly lovely distractions – _NO. Mission. Focus. Now. _

Her current mission was to find Fury, although she'd been having little luck. It was amidst her internal grapple for concentration that she wandered into yet another hallway, searching. Searching for anyone, any_thing_ that could tell her where he was. She pulled up short as she saw a pair of black boots come into her line of sight, which was trained on the ground. She followed the boots upwards until she came to the one-eyed face of Nick Fury and felt herself smile.

_Yes! And I didn't need to ask anyone for help, either, _she thought smugly.

'Director Fury. Just the man I was looking for,' Penny smiled.

'I know,' he said shortly, raising an eyebrow. 'That's why I came to find you. You were wandering around, looking like a lost puppy.'

_Oh. _Penny felt her pride fade. He'd found _her. _'Right. Yes, _sorry _about that…'

'You were about to walk into a restricted area, which for some reason, you have clearance for. Don't worry though, I'll take care of it.' He tapped something on a thin, glass device, and then nodded. 'Done. What can I do for you, Doctor?' he asked.

What could he do for her? _Oh, yes. That's right. _She was angry with him. Angry that he'd kept her in the dark. She _still _didn't know what was going on.

'I…' Penny took a deep breath, summoning the courage to be angry. She didn't normally get angry with people. 'I'm quite…' _Angry. You're quite angry, _she reminded herself. 'I'm quite _cross_,' she said, and winced at how unconvincing she sounded.

'You're…cross?' Fury inquired, tilting his head. 'Dr Masters, I'm afraid I don't have time for – '

'No. You'll have the time for _this_,' she interrupted and then inwardly cheered. There. _That _would show him. 'You sent me into Calcutta with absolutely _no _knowledge about the intended…target.' Was that the right word for him? 'And I _still _don't know what's going on. Or even why I _went. _Agent Romanoff _clearly _had the situation handled.' Well. That wasn't strictly true. Penny had seen the fear in the agent's eyes, but she was sure that it had only mirrored Penny's own confusion. 'I don't understand why my presence was needed in that incredibly stressful situation. I'm sure I only made things worse…'

Fury laughed. He actually laughed. 'Worse? Dr Masters, I'm quite certain you _saved_ Agent Romanoff's life. I apologise for keeping you in the dark, but I simply had to know whether you were truly on board or not. Under normal circumstances, a civilian would not be given access to this kind of knowledge, but since we need Dr Banner for his research, we needed someone else to try and help _him, _personally.' His explanation was almost as mysterious as Fury himself.

_Personally? _What was that supposed to mean? 'I'm not sure I understand,' Penny started, but then Fury cut across her.

'Doctor, you've now been cleared for access to the Avengers' personal profiles. I suggest you look Dr Banner up.' And with that, Fury turned and walked away, leaving Penny to her own confusing thoughts.

The Avengers?

* * *

**Two hours later:**

Penny was curled up on her sterile bed, in her sterile room, with a sterile looking tablet balanced on her knee as she sipped hot tea from a sterile looking cup.

But all the sterility of her surroundings didn't bother her, because she _finally_ knewwhat was going on. Or thereabouts.

After her brief encounter with Fury, Penny realised she had nothing to do other than to follow the man's advice. She went back to her room and pulled up as many files on "THE AVENGERS" as possible. Several files containing classified, but now accessible information about Dr Banner came up, but she ignored them, wanting to find out more about these mysterious Avengers for herself first, before finding out about her patient/co-worker.

In the two hours that followed, Penny had gone over many files, entitled "IRON MAN" – well, she already knew about him – who _didn't _know about Tony Stark, billionaire genius? "BLACK WIDOW" – that was Agent Romanoff, who Penny hadn't seen since they exchanged short words about Dr Banner, in the helicopter ride back. "HAWKEYE" – that was another agent – Agent Barton, although at the bottom of his file, it said: "COMPROMISED" in big, red letters. She wondered what that meant? "CAPTAIN AMERICA" – Wow. Okay, _that _was a surprise. Penny had heard about Captain America a.k.a. Steve Rogers from her grandfather. Because that's when he'd been _alive. _When her grandfather was little. On separates file, although mentioned in some of the Avengers ones, was one titled: "THOR." As in, the Norse god, Thor. Penny felt her head spinning. Apparently he was some kind of alien from another world. Attached to that file was one about another person – "LOKI". The trickster god, Thor's brother, and apparently stealer of the Tesseract.

"THE TESSERACT" was the last file Penny read before looking at Dr Banner's, and by the time she came to his files, she felt queasy. Whatever was happening, they _had _to get the Tesseract back. It could literally destroy their world.

It took her a moment to find Dr Banner's file, because it wasn't under his name, rather another. She only realised it was his because she saw a photo of his handsome face beneath the heading. The heading that read: "THE HULK".

_What on earth…_?

Penny tapped open the file and the picture of Dr Banner's face enlarged. The Hulk, a.k.a Bruce Banner._ So, his first name is Bruce?_ Penny found it suited him. She liked it when peoples' names suited them. She saw there were several video files attached, playing in the background. She hadn't been paying much attention, but as she looked closer, she saw a small figure. It looked like Dr Banner. Penny tapped on the video, and it came up to full size. It was definitely Dr Banner.

As she watched, the gentle-seeming doctor transformed into something else entirely. He increased in size, clothes shredding as he outgrew them, and turned…_green?_

After watching the remained of the video, which captured footage of Dr Banner – or was it the Hulk? – destroying military property. But, like, _helicopters and tanks_ kind of military property_. _

Once she'd watched all the videos, read all the files and glanced through all the data, she sat back, taking her glasses of and running a hand through her plaited hair, which had since come loose in many places. She looked down at the lab coat she was wearing and tore it off in disgust. People had been experimenting on the man for _years. _For years he'd been watched, pursued, _hunted_ because of his ability to turn into…well. What appeared to be a giant green rage monster.

Penny looked down at the lab coat and felt a heaviness in her heart. Fury had brought her here…to _study _him. She couldn't imagine that Banner would take lightly to it, and nor would she. She wanted to _help _people, not analyse and dissect them.

_But he said you were to find a cure, _some rational part of her brain reminded her.

_A cure?! _How would one even begin to try and find a cure for _that? _She glanced down at the screen on her bed and shuddered. No wonder Agent Romanoff had been terrified of him. He could have ripped them all apart. Bullets seemed to have no effect on him, that was certain.

'And I grabbed his arm…' Penny whispered to herself in horror. No wonder the man had looked at her so strangely. He probably thought she was an imbecile! What sane human would touch him and not worry about the consequences. The mystery of the "other guy", "monsters", "cages" and "incidents" had finally been unveiled, but Penny didn't feel any kind of victory elation.

Instead, she just felt apprehension.

* * *

**A While Later:**

After reading his files, it was safe to say that Penny was nervous about meeting the man again. Properly. She'd be taking _blood _samples and the like! He would never trust her, after her performance the other night. Not to mention that he scared her more than a little.

Penny was now in her lab – _their lab¸_ she reminded herself – and had continued doing some research on gamma radiation. She began by re-reading all the previous files she'd looked up, and then started reading a book she found on the SHIELD database, tailoring to all of Dr Banner's specific details surrounding his…condition.

It must have been late when something woke her, because Penny suddenly sat up, her left cheek sore from lying against the glass screen of the tablet for more than a few hours, she guessed. The lights were off, and she looked around hesitantly. Something had definitely made a noise.

'Who's there?' she called out into the darkness, and she stood up. Slowly, she made her way to the door, and searched for a light switch. Her hand brushed against a surface that wasn't the wall and she gave a yelp, jumping away as the lights flickered on.

Standing before her, his hand on the light switch, was Dr Banner.

Penny inhaled deeply. What was he doing here? 'Oh! Hello, Dr Banner, I uh – I'm sorry, I didn't realise…' _Didn't realise what? You don't know why he's down here._

Banner shook his head and gave her a wan smile. She noticed he was wearing day clothes, despite the late hour, although he had no shoes on. Had he been unable to sleep? 'Don't worry about it. I'm only sorry I interrupted your…_research_.' Penny flushed as she realised that he must have found her sleeping.

'Ah. Yes. I must have dozed off, I guess…' she glanced around hopelessly, wondering how she could get rid of him. Shouldn't he have had an escort or something? He _was _dangerous…

'What were you reading?' he inquired, stepping through the doorway and into the room.

_Damn. _Penny saw no other choice than to lead him over to her desk, one to the left of the giant window that looked out over the open sky. In that moment, it was the open _night _sky, and Penny was momentarily distracted as she gazed out of the window. It was a clear night, so she could see lights twinkling far beneath them, winking at them from down on the earth.

In that moment of distraction, Banner slid on a pair of glasses and turned on the tablet to see what she'd been reading. The gamma radiation file. The one about him and his condition. Penny felt her cheeks flush and she took a step forward, in case he was offended.

'No wonder you fell asleep,' Banner said. 'Gamma radiation isn't exactly light reading.' Penny thought he was berating her, but when she looked up, she saw his dark brown eyes were twinkling with mirth.

She cleared her throat and looked around awkwardly. 'Uh, yes. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry, I just meant – '

'Hey,' Banner said, pulling the glasses off. 'It's alright. I'm the one who asked. Whether or not you were reading it doesn't matter. I'm just nosy.' His voice was gentle, and Penny was briefly reminded of when he'd been addressing Agent Romanoff, suggesting to put the gun down, like he was talking to someone in danger. Penny realised now that Romanoff _had _been in danger.

And then Penny had just _stepped in_ _and grabbed the doctor by the arm_. Putting a mortified hand to her mouth, she took a step backwards, realising how stupid it must have been of her. Banner saw her movement and took a step forward, following her.

'I'm sorry about today, I – ' he began.

'- I'm _so_ sorry about earlier - ' she apologised, her eyes widening as they spoke at the same time. Banner rose and eyebrow but didn't go on. 'Sorry, please continue,' he said, and Penny flushed.

'I…uh…wanted to tell you how sorry I am. I must have put you in an awful situation earlier. I had _no idea _about your…condition.' Her words had faded off in a mumble, but Banner only smiled.

'If anyone was in an awful situation, Dr Masters, I think it might have been you,' he said with a slight shrug and Penny faltered. 'You clearly had no idea what you'd been brought into. Or who you were talking to, my condition aside. For that, I apologise.'

Penny stood there for a moment, caught in his gaze and then opened her mouth to speak. 'Uh…please…please call me Penny,' she said quietly, and Banner nodded.

'Penny. Of course. Well, Penny, I think a better introduction is in order. I'm Bruce, by the way. Please forgive me if I don't shake your hand.'

She nodded dumbly. 'I…I know your name…I read your file.' She paused. 'The classified one, that is,' she added.

Banner's face darkened slightly. 'So you know _everything_ then,' he said. He sounded resigned, whereas before his tone had been light.

'Uh, yes. Well, no, _obviously,' _Penny stuttered. 'Only _you _would know everything. You are your own man, after all.'

'And even that's not quite true,' he said quietly. _What did that mean?_

Penny backtracked. 'No, please don't be worried. I _had_ to read them. It's sort of why I'm here.'

He glanced up at her, dark eyes smouldering with an emotion she couldn't place. It wasn't anger, she didn't think. 'I know you had to read them. You're not the only one who's been briefed, Doctor.'

_Oh? _So he knew about her, then, did he? 'So…you know why I'm here?' she asked timidly, and he nodded, glancing to the window.

'You're here to try and help me. To try and _cure _my condition. Try being the operative word. You're a civilian, although highly respected in your field, one of the best, and that's why Fury brought you in. My guess is that he didn't tell you about me, intentionally, until he was sure you were committed. Is that about right?' he asked, and it sounded like a challenge.

'Uh…well, _no, _actually,' she said softly. 'See, I don't know if I am _committed, _per se.'

Bruce looked surprised. 'No? You don't want to cure me then? What else has Fury got you working on? Does he want to make more like me? An army or some other monstrosity?' he asked, his tone darker.

'No!' Penny yelped. 'Of course not. And I _absolutely_ want to cure you. Or at least…aid you. If that's what you want. I understand why you might have an aversion to military scientists. They've hounded you for so long…' Penny felt a sadness in her heart ache for the man. He'd finally gotten somewhere he could help people, away from the military, and then the government – the military, no less – had brought him in again. 'I just don't want to do anything you're not comfortable with,' she said quietly.

Again, Banner looked surprised. 'That's why they brought _you_ in. At least, I guess so,' he said to himself.

'Sorry? Brought me in why?'

'You're not a military scientist, Dr Masters. They wouldn't let me be alone in the same room as one for this long if you were, given my history with them,' he laughed weakly. 'No. I think you've been specifically chosen for me,' he said bitterly.

'Uh…specifically? I'm sure there are plenty other qualified people who could assist you…' she said uncertainly.

He rose an eyebrow, and Penny blushed. He seemed to have that effect on her. 'You read about Betty, correct?' His tone was now formal, clipped even. Penny nodded.

'Yes, uh, Betty Ross? You two were involved…' Penny coughed. 'I'm sorry to pry into your past like that, but it was there, and I couldn't…I couldn't help but read it,' she admitted.

'Thank you,' Bruce said abruptly. 'Thank you for being honest with me. It's quite refreshing,' he said with a smile, before it fell. 'Anyway, you should look her up sometime, even just to read her profile,' he suggested.

Aside from the fact that the moment he'd mentioned her name, Penny had made the decision to look into Betty Ross' file anyway, she nodded. Banner made his way over to the door. Before he left, Penny spoke. 'Why?' she asked, curious.

He gave her a tight smile. 'It seems they've figured out I have a type.'

* * *

**An hour earlier:**

Bruce Banner couldn't sleep.

It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, given the Other Guy, but this time, it wasn't because of nightmares or uncontrollable emotion. This time, it was because of memories.

Usually when memories bothered him, he just tried to shut them off. _Usually_, it worked. Apparently tonight wasn't usually, because instead of the expected face of Betty Ross keeping him awake, it was joined by another, similar face. The doctor, Penny Masters. It was uncanny, the similarities between them, and he knew in his heart that this was _exactly _why SHIELD had chosen her.

She was his…type.

Bruce didn't even knowhe _had_ a type, but it had become all too apparent that he did when the curtain fell and revealed a shocked looking scientist in the outskirts of the slums of Calcutta. A slim, pale, brown haired, _pretty _scientist.

Who showed no fear.

That was what made him marvel the most. At first he'd thought she was just cocky, but then quickly realised she wasn't. Cocky was the last thing that she was. More like terrified out of her mind, and confused. It was about halfway through their conversation that he had begun to suspect she didn't know who he was. This was only confirmed when she actually stepped up to defend him, and grabbed his arm.

That sure had been a surprise.

He felt the Other Guy stir at the thought of someone threatening him with a gun and Bruce took deep breaths, calming himself. Dr Masters had stopped that from happening. She'd put a hand on his arm and the Other Guy's attention had shifted from the agent to the female doctor. She'd probably saved the agent's life.

Bruce's natural reaction was to withdraw immediately, concerned that her sudden touch would waken something he couldn't control. However, it seemed to have the opposite effect. The _Other Guy_ had withdrawn, and Bruce had remembered that there were peoples' lives at stake, beside that of the somewhat irritating agent, whom he hadn't really worried about too much. In hindsight, he would have felt horrible if anything had happened to her.

When Dr Masters and his eyes had locked – green on brown – and no, the irony of her eye colour was _not _lost on him – Bruce had felt something he hadn't felt in a while. Compassion. Directed at _him. _Dr Masters had only been trying to help him, but it was the human _contact _that made him stare at her. She'd been totally unafraid of him, and consequently, he'd forgotten about Agent Romanoff and the legions of SHIELD operatives that surrounded them all, threatening his control over the Hulk.

That was why he couldn't sleep.

Bruce gave an irritated sigh and threw the blanket off him, leaving him in a pyjama shirt and shorts. They were nondescript, provided by SHIELD, standard issues, he assumed. He didn't mind, at least he _had _clothes. Clothes were a big problem for Bruce. He had the tendency of wearing them out faster than he liked.

He wondered if Dr Masters still felt the same way, if she was still unafraid of him.

Now, with that thought in his head, Bruce was truly unable to sleep. He growled in frustration and felt the Other Guy shift. He quickly quelled his irritation and sat up, murmuring a calming mantra to himself. It took him a couple of seconds, but he was fine.

A few minutes of meditating later, and Bruce realised that if he didn't do something to occupy his mind, he would go stir crazy. They were in a different time zone now, and his head wasn't coping very well, apparently.

Bruce shrugged on a different shirt and trousers, not bothering with shoes – who was going to be up at this time of night? – and exited the room.

Hadn't they mentioned something about a lab?

* * *

**Present time:**

Bruce left the lab in a mood worse than he'd entered, but strangely, was more at peace.

He now understood _why _they'd chosen the timid doctor to assist him in searching for a cure, and he resented it. It should have been for some other reason. Like she was the absolute best in her field.

_She is. She just also happens to have similar traits to Betty._

Some tiny part of him hoped that it was all just coincidence, but coincidence and government were two words that did not coexist. He was also slightly sadder. The earlier lack of fear that Dr Masters – _Penny – _had held for him was gone. She'd practically screamed when she brushed his hand as he turned on the light.

Her hands were soft, he'd discovered.

_No. Stop that. You can't think of her as anything more than a co-worker, _he scolded. _No matter how much she looks like Betty. _

She'd read his file, that was the reason for her change in demeanour. He knew it was, and he hated it. To just have _one _person who wasn't afraid of him…that'd be great.

By the time Bruce got back to his room, it was close to three in the morning. With a groan, he sank back onto his bed, and glanced down at a tablet sitting near him. He picked it up and glanced over the page he'd been looking at earlier. "PENNY MASTERS"

_ Full Name: Penelope Rose Masters_

_ Age: 27_

_ Origin: England_

_ Heritage: German/English_

_ Education: Oxford University_

_ Occupation: Current member of SHIELD, assistant to DR BRUCE BANNER_

_ Assignment: Develop cure for condition causing THE HULK anomaly in DR BRUCE BANNER_

_ Room Number: 783_

Bruce rose an eyebrow. Her room was on the other side of the Helicarrier. Literally as far away as it could be from _his. _He decided to ask Fury about it, the next time they talked. After he asked the hundreds of other questions he had, like: _Why would you choose _her_? _He already knew the answer, but he wanted to know _why _Fury had chosen someone he would develop more of an attachment to than just some other doctor.

Beneath this was a more detailed report, concerning her past work – biological anomalies in animals and psychology – and a personality report. Bruce frowned. He didn't think a personality report was that important on a file. He hadn't read hers before, but now, he tapped on it, interested in what might be said.

**"CLASSIFIED"**

Bruce almost smiled. She had a classified section of her file that he didn't have access to? Why did that not surprise him? It only confirmed the suspicion that she'd been chosen specifically, tailored to him exactly. It didn't matter what her background was, only that SHIELD could control her, and use her to develop…a cure? Why would they want a cure? Without the Other Guy, Bruce was just your regular John. Well. With several degrees and a brilliant mind, but still…it made no sense to him. If they cured him, he wouldn't be useful to them anymore.

Bruce pushed these thoughts aside as he glanced at the clock – 0400 hours. He really needed to get some sleep. Tiredly, he switched the light off and closed his eyes, leaning back and was about to begin a mantra, to calm him, when he realised there was nothing to calm. The Other Guy was quiet.

_Weird_, he thought as he drifted off, his dreams plagued by female, dark haired scientists with blurred faces.

**AN: ****Well. That's about two chapters too many in just two days. Don't expect them to come out so fast, in the future. I just wanted to get my original idea out there, and see what you all think :D**

**I really hope you enjoyed, I'm loving writing this fic so far. Do you like it too?**

**Please review!**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


	4. Chapter 3: Getting Along Famously

**AN: ****Hello again ;)**

**Here's another ridiculously early update. I realised that seeing as how it was so short, people probably weren't getting a proper feel for the story yet – whoops! So here I am again.**

**Anyways, pleassse review, it totally makes my day, and this story hasn't gotten any yet (I'm just assuming y'all are shy ;) )**

**Also – above else – enjoy!**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

**3. Getting Along Famously**

The next morning, Dr Banner was escorted to Penny in the lab, where she'd remained after he visited her, continuing to push through his file, absorbing as much as she could. The only reason she'd fallen asleep earlier was because of sheer exhaustion – both physical and emotional. She still wasn't sure if her presence on the Helicarrier was necessary, or ethically right. Ethically right for Dr Banner, that was. He'd seemed alright with the idea of her trying to help him the night before…or earlier that morning, as it was, but that might not have meant anything. Especially if SHIELD had some kind of hidden motive behind finding a cure. Now, after reading some personal accounts he'd reported himself, she understood that Bruce had to practice an immense control over his emotions, which he concealed with great care.

Earlier that morning, she'd been scared of him, not truly understanding what made him tick, but after further research, she thought she understood a bit more. Not _everything _set him off. He could handle stress like any normal person…that was, until his heart rate reached 200bpm. That's when he…_changed. _After gleaning this bit of knowledge from one of his files, Penny felt like she could try to help him, and keep a calm environment at the same time. She still had no idea what must have being going on in that head of his, – she doubted anyone ever would – but she didn't feel scared, per se…As long as he was calm, he was happy. Or thereabouts.

When he entered the room, complete with an armed guard, Penny felt her jaw drop. So he _did _have an armed escort. But from what she'd seen, she had no idea what good it would do. The Hulk was unstoppable. The way she saw it, the only purpose the armed men served was to increase the levels of stress as Dr Banner was transported about the Helicarrier.

She decided to talk to Fury about it, if she ever saw him again. However, she doubted her own abilities of finding him – the Helicarrier was still a maze to her. If she _were _to speak to the Director, it would be on his own terms.

After she finished staring at the armed guard, she realised they had no intention of moving. They positioned themselves by the door – two inside, two outside. Penny sent Dr Banner a fleeting look of worry, and he smiled at her.

She liked his smile.

'Dr Masters, how are you today?' he asked, although his usually calm voice sounded strained.

'I'm quite well Dr Banner, and yourself?' She decided to play along, even though there was something clearly bothering the man.

'Feeling a little cramped, but you know…Coping.' His gaze flickered to the guards, and she frowned at them. They obviously weren't making him feel any more welcome. Would Banner say anything? He probably _could_, if it truly bothered him…

Penny made an executive decision and walked over to them. They didn't look at her, and so she was forced to stand directly in front of one of them. 'Ahem,' she announced her presence, but the guard's eyes never left Banner.

'Excuse me,' she spoke again, tapping on the man's arm. Just like that, the man had a gun aimed at her faster than she was expecting and she froze. She stole a hesitant glance over at Banner, who had also frozen, a tablet half-hovering above the table from where he'd picked it up.

Penny scowled at the guard and he lowered the weapon. 'I don't see what kind of threat I am,' she grumbled quietly and then looked directly at the soldier. 'Just what is your purpose here?' she gestured to the armed men and crossed her arms.

'Ma'am. Our purpose is to ensure your safety and the safety of those in the immediate vicinity,' the guard stated, and Penny nodded.

'Right, of course. So…that's the safety of _everyone, _yes?' The guard nodded. 'Due to Dr Banner's condition?' Another nod. 'Well.' Penny glanced over at the doctor, who was still frozen, although she thought she saw his hand twitch slightly. 'You can leave now,' she said, much ruder than she'd intended.

The guard looked down at her, astonished. 'Uh, Ma'am…'

'It's Dr Masters, and I do believe that your presence here is not only putting myself at risk, but also Dr Banner himself.' She paused for effect. 'And any other people who are in the…_immediate vicinity_. Do you understand me, Agent?'

Penny spoke clearly, hoping that he'd catch her meaning, and the guard looked from her to the doctor and then back again. Penny saw he wasn't about to move, and so tilted her head. 'Listen. I'm a reasonable woman. I can compromise. I understand that you're not allowed to leave us alone, but how about you and your friend here just stand guard outside? You'll be able to see us, take action if necessary, but on the whole…I believe it would _reduce the tension _by quite a large amount. Once more, I ask – _do you understand me, Agent_?' she sent the guard a meaningful look, and it suddenly dawned on him that they were making Dr Banner uncomfortable. Two seconds later, the man had said something into his earpiece and he nodded to his fellow agent. The two men then left the lab, standing on the other side of the glass doors, facing the opposite side of the hall.

Penny let out the breath she'd been holding and turned to face Dr Banner. 'I'm so sorry about that,' she apologised. 'It was just so unthoughtful of them…' she frowned, but saw the look on Dr Banner's face. 'What?' she asked. 'What is it?'

He tilted his head, smiling. 'You didn't have to do that, you know. I can handle an armed escort.'

She let out a breathy laugh. 'But you shouldn't have to. You're my patient, and you need to be relaxed. Or at least, as relaxed as you can be on a flying Helicarrier, which is essentially just a series of small, confining rooms strung together.' She picked up a scanning device and then winced, going over her words in her head. 'Sorry. I didn't meant to – '

'Dr Masters, it's fine,' Banner said, and let go of the tablet in his hands, which fell to the table with a clatter. After giving him a calculated glance, Penny walked over, daring to move closer, and saw that the screen had hundreds of hairline cracks running over it. She picked it up and frowned, reaching across Banner to look at it properly. She saw finger-shaped dents in it and then realised that it was he who had damaged it.

_Oh. _She struggled to think of something that would put him at ease. 'Uh, Dr Banner, you _can _call me Penny,' she said, remembering their conversation from earlier that morning.

'And you can call me Bruce. I just thought it would be best if _certain_ parties didn't know I'd been wandering around the Helicarrier unaccompanied,' he said with a glance towards the ceiling, where Penny spotted a camera.

'Oh!' she said, spotting it immediately, and then cursing herself for not noticing. _Of course there are cameras._ 'That's a bit rude,' she scowled at the device and stuck her tongue out. Then she remembered Bruce was in the room. She turned to smile at him hesitantly, dreading the worst. He probably thought she was an idiot.

Instead, she found him smiling.

Oh, she _definitely _liked his smile.

Penny self-consciously brushed her plait over her shoulder and tilted her head. 'Are you alright?' she asked softly, referring to the guards, and she looked pointedly at the glass screen of the ruined tablet. He nodded.

'Just peachy. Guns make me nervous, that's all,' he said calmly, and walked over to a cupboard to pull out a microscope. He set it on the table and Penny caught onto his train of thought. She walked over to another cupboard and pulled out a series of needles and vials. She wanted to take a blood sample. She could start from there and then work backwards. Or forwards. Or sideways. Whatever way allowed her to help him.

Then she realised she hadn't responded to his words. 'You didn't seem nervous around Agent Romanoff's gun the other day,' she observed, and set up a fresh needle.

'That's because the other day the gun was pointed at _me_,' he said quietly, and Penny thought she must have misheard him. Surely he didn't mean…Because what he was saying was…

'I mean, I can survive a bullet, but that doesn't mean the Other Guy likes it. I knew Romanoff wouldn't fire. With these guys…well. They've just been ordered to protect you. There's not telling what they'd do,' he said matter-of-factly, his voice still soft. _Oh. Not what I thought, then. _

_ Obviously. Get a grip, Penny._

She also noticed that she liked his voice. It had a gentle, easy-going quality to it, despite the nature of his…other half.

'From you,' she said softly, and Bruce glanced up. 'They're here to protect me from you,' she said, and felt sad. He nodded after hesitating and then continued to busy himself with setting up the microscope. Then, he pulled up some kind of monitor that showed two steady heart-lines. The top was labelled: BANNER, the bottom: MASTERS. Penny realised it was their own heart rates and she smiled. The technology of the Helicarrier was amazing.

'Does that bother you?' Banner asked suddenly, and Penny looked at him from the monitor.

'Does what bother me?' she asked.

'That you might need protecting?' he asked. 'No offense meant, but last night…you didn't exactly seem pleased to see me down here.'

_Damn. _So he'd noticed that, had he? Penny nodded slowly. 'I…I hadn't read all of your file then. I, uh…' She struggled to put it nicely.

'Just tell me, Penny,' he implored, sensing her hesitance, and she blushed at the use of her name. It sounded nice coming from his lips.

She looked directly at his dark brown eyes, wanting to gauge his reaction. 'I thought you were just an enormous, green, angry monster,' she blurted and then felt the very tips of her ears go crimson as the blush spread over her whole face.

Banner looked at her for a few long moments and then laughed. Penny smiled uncertainly and he braced himself on the tabletop. For some reason, she got the feeling his laughter wasn't as happy as it sounded.

Abruptly, Bruce stopped and looked up at her, catching his breath. 'I rather think you should have kept that opinion of me, Penny. Because that's _exactly_ what I am,' he said shakily. Penny glanced over at his heart-rate, which had increased considerably. As she looked, she saw hers jump too, and she tried to be calm.

'I'm sorry,' he apologised, and took a step forward. He shook his head, 'I didn't mean to upset you. I was just telling you the truth,' he said.

'You really think that?' she asked sadly. Was that all the man thought of himself? The thought was too heartbreaking for her to bear.

'What else am I to think?' he asked, and shrugged his shoulders. He rolled the sleeve of his blue shirt up to expose his forearm. 'Hand me one of those, will you?' he asked, nodding to one of the needles Penny had just prepared. She took a second to refocus and handed it to him. Before she did, she hesitated.

'Don't you want me to do that?' she asked, referring to taking his blood. It was uncomfortable to take your own blood. She knew from experience.

Bruce looked at her for a moment, his eyes boring into her, although they looked at her with kindness. 'I don't think that would be a good idea, Penny,' he said quietly and Penny tried not to gulp. There. He'd said her name again.

_No. Ignore it. Just because he has a lovely voice…_

The heart-monitor gave her away.

It suddenly picked up pace, the slow, steady beep increasing in tempo momentarily before Penny relaxed. Too late, Bruce noticed and smiled wryly, his hand still out for the needle. Penny gave it to him wordlessly and then turned around, hiding her flaming face.

'Maybe some other time, though,' he said, his smile still present. 'After we've…gotten used to each other? It can take a while for the Other Guy to get used to a person,' he explained.

_Did he know? He couldn't know. Could he?_ Penny didn't remember reading anything about psychic powers in his file… She thought desperately for something to say that wouldn't give her away. 'Uh…so you call it… the "Other Guy"?' she inquired hastily, and heard his response from behind her.

'Yes. _He _takes up part of my personality, but I…guess I don't like to think about him as being _actually _me. So. He's the Other Guy.'

'Oh. Sorry. _He,' _Penny corrected herself.

'There, done,' Bruce announced, and Penny turned to accept the vial. Inside, it was now a deep red, filled with the doctor's blood, where before it had been clear. Penny put it to the side and began setting up a second microscope of her own when Bruce stopped her.

'Here, use mine,' he offered, and stepped back for her. She accepted and pulled a slide out. She carefully released a drop onto the slide before placing a cover over it. Then, she slid it under the microscope and bent down to look at it.

What she saw was amazing. The blood was constantly changing, moving, adapting, mutating. On the surface of each blood cell seemed to be a kind of green pigment, or growth. Penny gave a small gasp and turned to Bruce, who looked at her apprehensively.

'…What?' he asked nervously.

She looked at him as severely as she possibly could and then spoke, her voice serious, as she tried to keep a straight face. 'Don't take this the wrong way…but…' She couldn't help it. She smiled. 'You're quite remarkable,' Penny finished, beaming at him.

Bruce stared at her and then grinned. If Penny thought his smile was lovely, she was nearly blown away by his hundred-watt grin. She saw her pulse jump on the screen and coughed loudly in the hopes of blocking out the sound. However, as she did so, she completely missed the jump in the doctor's own heart rate.

She turned away hastily, pressing a button on the side of the microscope that transferred the image up onto the large screen. Then, next to it, a beautifully clear image of his DNA double-helix appeared and she sent him a questioning glance.

'I guess it's on the SHIELD database,' he explained with an interested frown and Penny glared at the structure. The lengths of intrusion of privacy that SHIELD went to weren't making her very charitable towards the agency.

However, Penny's thoughts were wiped blank by the double helix before her. She stared at it in wonderment and noted the strange mutations to the junctions between his monosaccharide sugar-phosphate groups and bases. It was fascinating. And _green. _She sent him a sideways glance, and he leant against one of the bench tops.

'Basically, those little green mutations act as a fifth base,' he explained. 'They form an extra mutation that manifests as the green mutations on the surface of my blood cells. I know. Don't ask me how I'm not dead, but for some reason, they don't compromise the functioning of the sugar-phosphate groups, instead they act more like a…'

'Parasite?' Penny offered, and then regretted it. Parasite was an ugly word.

Bruce shrugged. 'More of a symbiotic relationship, I've found. I mean…it's not like I get nothing out of it. The Other Guy protects me. Unfortunately, I don't get to choose when or _how_, but…he does, if I think about it.' He sighed angrily. 'I don't even have the luxury of classing it as parasitic. Then, at least, I might be able to hate him more,' he said bitterly.

Penny felt her heart twinge. This poor man. 'I'm sorry, Dr Banner – '

'Bruce,' he corrected.

'Bruce.' Penny glanced over the lab. 'If this is too hard, or brings up too many memories, we don't have to – '

'What, and put you out of a job?' he smiled. 'Not likely. Besides…you're the first scientist I've come across in a while that the Other Guy hasn't wanted to rip to shreds.' He blanched at his own words and Penny heard the heart-rate monitor spike. His or hers, she didn't know. 'Sorry,' he murmured. 'I didn't mean to scare you.'

She guessed it had been hers, then. 'I'm not scared,' she said, only half-believing it. What the man could do was truly frightening. She _was _scared…but she didn't think she was scared of _him. _She didn't know what was causing the fear. There _was _a fear of the Hulk there…But he was also…so _very_ human.

'Perhaps you should be,' Banner said quietly, and she looked into his brown eyes. They seemed to be speaking to her, trying to tell her something. Well. His _words_ were also telling her something – he'd practically just told her to be frightened of him.

'I can handle it,' she said semi-confidently. 'Well. I mean _obviously, _I couldn't physically, if you were to change right now, but if I can help in any other way – you know – calming you down, if something goes wrong…Or…I don't know if I _would _be any help…' Penny realised she was rambling and stopped.

Banner weighed her carefully. 'I appreciate the offer,' he said carefully. 'Really, I do. Not a lot of people would be willing to help someone who would kill them.'

His words silenced her, and she mulled them over carefully._ He said would, not could, _Penny noticed, like if he changed, he had no control.

Lunch would be soon, which was good. She decided to ask him about the emotional side effects to his condition, after she ate. Ask him questions like: How does it feel, knowing that you could kill everyone on this boat if you get upset? Except perhaps more delicately than that…

In the meantime, Penny started taking notes on the nature of Bruce's DNA and the blood, hoping that maybe she might find something that could be of use.

* * *

Bruce was pleasantly surprised.

After seeing her last night, he'd expected his time around Penny to be awkward, or at least a little uncomfortable. However, when he arrived at the lab, he was greeted by a smile and no sooner had he walked in, Penny somehow convinced the guards to stand outside.

He wouldn't normally be so nervous around armed men – it had been a constant in his life for several years now. No matter what he said, everyone believed they were safer when armed.

Like _that_ would save them.

Bruce had only been stressed because their presence meant they were concerned for the safety of Dr Masters, and that meant that _he _became concerned for her safety, and he knew the guns were for _him _and that she might get caught in the crossfire somehow and then he'd tear the whole ship apart and –

_Calming thoughts. Happy, calming thoughts. Breath. Focus on breathing._

Bruce took a deep breath and glanced up at the heart-rate monitor, glad that Penny was so deeply immersed in her work that she didn't notice the spike. If it started getting near the 190's, then it was time to worry. 200, and it was a lost cause. Currently, it was cruising around 110bpm, which was slightly above average for someone of his age and height, but it was normal for him.

He'd started to worry when the guard pulled a gun on her, and it had taken every ounce of self-control for him to contain the Other Guy. It had been frightening, how quickly the beast surfaced at the thought of her in trouble. He'd broken the tablet he was holding, fracturing the strong glass like it was egg shell.

He hadn't reacted so strongly to someone in a long while. After practising for more than just a few years, Bruce liked to think he was fairly apt at controlling his emotions, so when he reacted so violently to something so simple, it caused him more than a small amount of concern.

_Enough. Calming thoughts, _he commanded himself, and uttered a mantra softly.

He had started working on writing down anything he thought could be helpful to Penny. Fury had told him he had a few days to help her and then it was time for him to focus on the Tesseract. So, he wrote down all the possible theories, ideas, antidotes, remedies, plants – hell – _herbal teas_ he'd tried to control the Other Guy and found that by lunch time, the list was depressingly long.

Always, as he'd been working for the past few years, had he been searching for a cure. It was never far from his mind. That's why SHIELD made him so suspicious. Without the Other Guy, who was he to the,? Fury claimed he only wanted him for his mind, but surely there were other gamma radiation specialists he could have called in to help? Specialists that were less…unstable?

'You're Dr Bruce Banner,' came a sudden voice, and he looked up to see Penny staring at him. Her glasses had slid down her nose, and she pushed them up, rolling her shoulders. Did her back hurt?

_Wait. "You're Dr Bruce Banner"? _Had he spoken out loud?

'Sorry?' he inquired, and took his own glasses off.

'You asked who you were without the Other Guy. I said "Dr Bruce Banner."' Her words were kind and she quirked her head to the side slightly. 'Are you alright?' she asked and he nodded.

'Yeah, just…kinda depressed by this list,' he gestured to the list in front of him. Penny slowly walked over to him and took a seat on a stool she dragged over. He noted how her manner changed as soon as she came close to him. 'You don't have to tiptoe around me, you know,' he said, and she smiled apologetically.

'Sorry. I just don't want to cause any stress,' she said with a slight blush. Did she know how pretty she was when she blushed?

_Stop it, _he scolded himself. _You've known her for what – 24 hours? Control yourself. _

'You won't, trust me,' he smiled, and she returned it. Bruce pushed the list over in front of her, careful not to let their hands touch, just in case she was still nervous.

'Alright,' she said simply in response, and took the sheet from him, her fingers brushing his. Apparently she wasn't so nervous anymore. For some reason, the thought made Bruce happy. That and the fact that she just said she trusted him.

'Uh…' he struggled for words. He was touched that she trusted him. 'Thanks,' he settled for, and Penny moved on the seat, inching closer slightly. Bruce realised it was the closest she'd ever been, and he struggled not to let the thought overwhelm him. It was the closest _anyone _had been…in a long while. Their knees were practically touching.

Just then, a waft of some kind of perfume drifted over to Bruce – _Daisies? – _he wondered briefly, and then clenched his fists as he felt the Other Guy slam against his mind suddenly.

It was so unexpected, Bruce pushed his chair away from the table violently, and heard Penny yelp at his sudden movement. The steady beeping of both their heart rates spiked, although one was _considerably_ faster than the other…

'Bruce?' she said, her voice filled with concern, but he barely heard her. All he could hear was the roaring in his head. With a groan, he pushed away from the table, trying to put some distance between them. 'Get…away,' he managed through clenched teeth. Penny froze and Bruce was vaguely aware that the guards had entered the room. He heard the frantic beeping of his heart-rate and grimaced. It was definitely coming close to 190 now, he reckoned, and he shook his head. There was too much noise.

The guards were talking anxiously on their head-pieces, calling for reinforcements, and Penny was trying to get them to leave. Everything sounded like it was underwater, loud and amplified. The beeping monitor of his heart-rate was irritating him and he growled at it uselessly, unable to move his hands to turn it off. Bruce groaned as he felt the Other Guy slam against his mind, aching to be let out.

'_No_!' he hissed, and felt a gentle hand on his arm. He looked up through hazy eyes to see Penny standing over him, her hand on his forearm. He tried to push her back, get her to leave – it was _her _the Other Guy was reacting to, but he didn't trust himself not to hurt her.

He got even more worried when she knelt down next to him and hesitantly brought his chin up with a soft, cool hand.

'Bruce?' she said, and it was like her voice was the only clear sound. 'Stay with me, Bruce. It's just you and me,' she soothed, despite the obvious guards who had their guns trained on them. Bruce thought he heard one of the guards ask her to step away from him. Her grip on his chin tightened. 'No one else is here, Bruce. Just…Just stay with me,' she urged calmly, and he looked into her green eyes, framed by her dark glasses.

The moment he looked into her eyes, it was like everything stopped. The Other Guy quietened, and backed off, leaving Bruce gasping and shaking. Penny's worried face refocused and he swayed slightly, grabbing onto the stool leg for support. He felt someone lift him up and saw that it was Penny, her hand guiding his torso upwards until he was standing.

'Ma'am, I'm going to need you to step away from Dr Banner, now. Right now,' commanded a soldier, and Bruce felt the Other Guy stir. _No. Calm thoughts. Focus on breathing._

'Dr Banner is perfectly fine,' Penny said, and Bruce felt her grip on his waist tighten. 'What he needs is for you to all back off,' she said, but didn't raise her voice, trying to keep the environment as peaceful as she could. She reached behind Bruce to do something. _What was she doing? _Bruce's mind panicked. Was she going to hurt him? It wouldn't work. The Other Guy would tear her apart.

Lightning fast, Bruce's hand shot out of its own accord and grabbed her wrist. She froze, and looked at him with wide eyes. The guards exploded into action again, raising their guns.

'Bruce, I'm just turning off the heart-rate,' she whispered quietly, and instead of trying to pull her hand away, she brought it up so he could see it, gripping her wrist hard, his knuckles white. She brought her other hand over his and Bruce realised she was _holding _it there, keeping the hand in place. 'Here, let's just turn this off,' she suggested calmly, as if there weren't a group of armed soldiers around them.

She turned him gently, his hand still over hers, and then tapped a button on the screen, muting the sound. The relief for Bruce was almost instantaneous, and he was able to loosen his grip on her. He instantly let go of her hand, although he didn't really want to. Her touch was…soothing.

Suddenly, she was ripped away from him as a soldier tugged her to safety. Bruce felt the Other Guy thrash, and he tried frantically to calm down. She was safer with them. He heard her protests and he growled, an animal-sounding noise, even to him. Penny disappeared from sight as the soldiers stood between him and her.

_She's just…a scientist. She's no-one important to you. She __**shouldn't**__ be this important, _he tried to reason, but he only felt the beast in him struggle tried a different approach. _She's fine, she's safe, _he tried to calm the Other Guy, but it didn't seem to work.

At that moment, something changed. The door to the lab opened and in walked Director Fury. He glanced around him and his gaze fell on Bruce. 'Dr Banner, what do you need?' he asked calmly, seemingly unworried that Bruce was struggling to keep control. Bruce heard Penny speak.

'He needs your thugs to back off_,' _she suggested, although her tone was still calm.

'I wasn't asking you, Dr Masters, I was asking Dr Banner. Dr Banner?' he inquired, turning to speak to Bruce once more. He felt his vision fade momentarily and he nodded, falling to one knee. Fury turned to the guards. 'Out,' he snapped, and they complied. 'You too, Dr Masters,' he said and moved to lead her out.

She sent Bruce a long glance, and was about to comply when Bruce let out a loud groan, falling to both knees as the Other Guy strained inside him. Instead, she shook her head and skirted around Fury, standing next to Bruce. He shut his eyes, trying to ignore the feelings inside him. _It's fine. The guards are gone._

He felt her soft, cool hands on him once more, this time on his forehead, and she brushed at the skin just around his eyes. 'Open your eyes for me Bruce, come on. Just look at me. You can do it,' she urged, and he risked opening them.

He opened his eyes and saw her green ones reflect himself, kneeling on the floor, entire body tense as he fought the beast inside him.

_No. Not here_, he thought.

_ Not her, not here, not now._

Bruce took a deep breath and then let it out, relieved when, although it was shaky, it was still _him _who was breathing. Not the Other Guy.

Slowly, Penny helped him to his feet again, and this time, she kept her hand on his arm. The realisation made the Other Guy restless, but Bruce took deep breaths to calm himself. He was still shaking, but his heart-rate felt steadier. Reading his mind, Penny glanced behind him. 'Heart-rate is 150 beats per minute and dropping. You're going to be alright, Bruce,' she said confidently, and he looked at her through exhausted eyes. His world was swimming, and he needed to warn her…he was going to…she needed to –

'Look…out,' he managed before the world tilted and he landed with a thud on the ground.

**AN: **

**SO. **

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**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


	5. Chapter 4: Aftermath

**AN: ****Hey there!**

**Sorry it's been a while – life has been hectic – but here's the next update. I hope you all enjoy where this story is going, it's been a delight to write, so far.**

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**~Fen~**

**4. Aftermath**

Penny was frozen as guards re-entered the room, swarming around her to lift the unconscious Dr Banner and take him away. She wanted to ask them where they were taking him, but it was as if she could no longer form words.

'Dr Masters?' a voice asked her, and she slowly turned to see Nick Fury standing behind her, looking at her oddly.

'Y-yes?' she asked, her voice shaking. _Weird_, she noted dully. It hadn't been shaking when she talked to Bruce just before. When he'd nearly changed.

'Are you alright, Doctor? Unscathed, I mean?' he asked brusquely, and she nodded.

'F-fine,' she said weakly, and then glanced down at her wrist. Maybe not so fine. 'My wrist…' she said quietly, and Fury nodded, calling back one of the agents.

'See to Dr Masters' wrist, Agent Hill. After you're done, report back to me.'

The female agent that Fury addressed saluted him and then turned to Penny as the Director left the room. 'Dr Masters, if you'll follow me to one of the medical bays,' the woman gesture for the door and Penny nodded vaguely, going wherever the agent commanded.

A few minutes later, they were in a med bay of some kind, and Penny realised she couldn't even remember how they got there. Her mind was blank…suffering from shock? She didn't have the clarity of mind to assess her mental state. Hill gestured for her to sit on one of the beds, and Penny complied. The agent took out a scanning device and ran it over her injured hand. After a moment, she pulled back and studied the readings.

'Hmm,' the agent murmured. 'Looks like you've got hairline fractures just at the base of your right radius,' she said quietly. 'Was it Dr Banner?' she inquired and Penny finally felt an emotion spark.

'It wasn't his fault,' she said, rather sharply. 'Sorry,' she apologised. 'I think I'm just a bit shaken. Yes, it was him, but it was my fault, I moved too quickly for him.'

Agent Hill stared at her evenly for a long while. 'I don't think there are many people who would agree with you,' she said after a moment.

'Well, as long as Bruce agrees, that's all I care about,' Penny said honestly.

'I think Dr Banner will be the last person to agree with you, Dr Masters,' the agent admitted, and brought something out of a draw. 'This is a cast developed by Stark Industries. It has anti-inflammatories infused in the fabric, and should help the healing process speed up. I suggest careful use of the arm for the next few days, though.'

'Only days?' Penny inquired. Fractures took longer than that to heal…

Agent Hill smiled. 'Like I said. Stark Industries. Plus, it's only a hairline, so you should be fine soon enough. Just don't put any unnecessary pressures on it. Will you be heading back to your room after this?' she inquired, and Penny shook her head.

'Back…to the lab, I think. I'll clean up any mess…' she thought out loud.

'I'm sure that's already been taken care of, but if you wish to return anyway, that's fine too, Dr Masters,' Hill said politely. Penny liked her.

'Please call me Penny. And thank you, Agent Hill. That would be great,' she said as the agent finished wrapping Penny's hand in a spongey fabric.

'Alright, Penny. I'm Maria. It'll set in about five minutes,' Hill informed her, and Penny nodded. 'I'll show you the way back to the lab, too,' she said, and Penny stood.

'Thanks…' Penny mumbled and followed her blindly, trying to memorise the route, just in case she had go back to medical bay at some point. 'Where did they take Bruce – uh – Dr Banner?' She realised she should probably stop calling him Bruce in front of other people. It was unprofessional.

'Dr Banner has been taken to a room specifically designed to contain him.'

'Contain him?' Penny echoed. Did that mean what she _thought_ it meant?

'Yes. In case he has an incident,' Maria continued.

'But we averted the incident,' Penny protested. 'Bruce is fine now.'

The agent raised an eyebrow, and Penny blushed. They came to the door of the lab and walked inside, the door closing behind them with a _hiss. _

'Where…is the room?' she asked quietly, and Maria picked up a tablet. She tapped a few buttons and the screen came up with a map. There was a purple dot – which was Penny, apparently, and a green one that was Bruce.

'You can use this to track the two of you, if you like?' the agent explained and Penny smiled.

'Thank you,' she said gratefully, and accepted the tablet.

'It was a pleasure to meet you,' Agent Hill said, and started to walk out.

'Wait,' Penny said, and the agent stopped. 'Do you know when Dr Banner will be…back?' Hill shook her head.

'No, sorry. But you can go check on him, later, if you wish?' she suggested, and walked out, nodding her farewell.

As soon as the door closed, Penny put the tablet on the table. She felt numb. Her hand didn't really hurt, but she didn't know if she'd be able to feel it anyway. She felt so disconnected from her body. Like it was someone else's. She wondered if that was how Bruce felt.

_Definitely shock, _her mind reasoned.

Penny felt her legs quiver and she reached out to grab a stool just as they gave way. She slid to the ground in a broken heap, her back against the bench leg. Slowly, she felt unbidden tears well in her eyes.

_Stupid. You're not that badly hurt, _she scolded. But it was more than that. She was shaken. Bruce had scared her. She remembered his tense stance and the panic that flashed across his kind face as he stumbled away from her. Had that been because of her? Had she done something wrong? Had she said something to upset him? Penny wracked her mind for some kind of explanation and came up blank.

Whatever had happened, it was her reaction that scared her more. She'd been totally level-headed amidst all the chaos, although her mind had been screaming. And what freaked her out even more was that Bruce had _calmed_ _down_ when she talked to him. That terrified her. What was that supposed to mean?

Penny realised she should probably be writing all this down, for her to try and psychoanalyse or something, but at the thought of writing down what had transpired, she burst into sobs.

_Shock. It's just the shock_, she tried to reason. It had just been so unexpected.

There was a panicked, fluttering inside her chest that threatened to burst out and she took deep, shaking breaths. Bruce had frightened her, yes, but it wasn't him changing that scared her.

It was the thought of what SHIELD would do if he did.

Bruce woke up somewhere else.

He sat up groggily and rolled onto his side, taking in his surroundings. What was this? Where was he?

'I'm sorry to have to do this, Doctor, but it's just a precaution, I can assure you,' came Fury's deep voice from somewhere next to him. Banner stood up and realised he was in a circular, empty room, with glass walls. He took one look at Fury, standing on the other side of the wall and felt the Other Guy growl.

'What the hell is this?' he asked, gesturing around him, feeling his temper rise.

'A containment facility that will automatically release, dropping you some thirty thousand feet, should it come under pressure. A _precaution_,' Fury said, and turned away momentarily. Bruce felt panic well in his chest. It was a cage. A cage specifically tailored for him. The Other Guy growled and Bruce struggled to remain focussed. Fury was still talking. 'And as it turns out, a necessary one. Do you have any idea how much danger you put us all in today, Dr Banner? How much danger you put _Dr Masters _in?'

Bruce glared at him. He didn't like the way he referred to Penny. Like she was nothing more than another one of Fury's lackeys. 'I know _exactly_ what danger I put you in,' he said darkly. 'But, if I recall, it was _you _who invited me aboard. You knew the risks.' He paced the room, trying to keep unwelcome thoughts from his head. Like how the room reminded him of a big, glass _cage_.

'And as I understood, I thought you could control it,' Fury said, crossing his arms.

'So did I…' Banner muttered.

'Please elaborate, Doctor. After your performance earlier, I've got all day.'

Bruce shook his head slowly, thinking over the experience in his mind. 'I don't know what set it off. Nothing like that's ever happened before. One moment I was fine, the next, the Other Guy nearly pushed through. I must have…let my guard down,' he theorised.

'Are you planning on letting your guard down again anytime soon?' Fury inquired. 'Because I think we need to know.'

Bruce glared at him. 'Just what exactly were you hoping to gain by hiring someone who looked like Betty?' he inquired, and felt the Other Guy push at his mind.

_No. Not again. That was far too close, earlier._

'Gain?' Fury inquired incredulously, feigning innocence or actually not realising his mistake, Bruce didn't know. 'I'm not hoping to _gain _anything by it. The only thing I'm hoping to _gain _is the whereabouts of the Tesseract, and possibly, with Dr Masters' help, a cure for you.'

Bruce shook his head. 'No. That's not it. Don't lie to me, please,' he implored calmly, and stopped pacing, facing Fury full on. 'There's something more at work here,' he said.

Fury shrugged. 'Believe what you will, Doctor. I'm just trying to stop the world from ending as we know it. It would be mighty big of you if you could focus for long enough to help us.'

Bruce felt the Other Guy trying to take over his mind. How dare Fury undervalue the threat he imposed on them? The Other Guy would kill them all, no second thought.

'I'm not _stopping _you,' he snapped, and pinched the bridge of his nose. _Calm down. It's fine. No big deal._

'Oh, aren't you?' Fury asked. 'Take a look at the effect you have on some of the people who are trying to help.' He pulled up a large screen that filled almost the entire wall in front of Bruce. It took him a moment to recognise the lab in the footage.

'This is live footage from your lab, Doctor,' Fury said, as he enabled sound.

_Sobbing._

Bruce took a step back. There on the ground by one of the tables, he saw Penny, arms wrapped around herself, sobbing quietly. He felt the Other Guy still momentarily, as if watching, and Bruce felt his own anger swamp his mind, clouding his vision.

'Send someone to her! Make sure she's alright,' he growled.

'That's already been taken care of, Doctor. I had one of my best agents treat her wrist – which is fractured, by the way.'

Bruce felt his anger evaporate. 'Fractured?' he asked quietly, and the Director nodded. Shame overwhelmed Bruce and he turned away. He waited a few moments before 'Why are you showing me this?' he asked hollowly.

'I'm showing you this to prove that there are some people out there who care about you. Who are here for you.' One of Fury's eyebrows quirked upwards. 'You think you're alone, but you're only alone if you ostracize yourself, Doctor. That's what you've been doing in India, and that's probably what you'll do again after this. You wonder why you get so easily riled up around people, why you're a risk to them? Maybe it's because you're out of practise,' Fury shrugged. 'I don't know. It's your life. But just think about it for a moment. And maybe you should watch this bit of footage too,' he suggested.

Fury rewound the live feed briefly, until it came to a point from earlier. There was no-one in the lab, but Bruce could hear footsteps and muffled voices as two figures approached the door.

_ 'Yes. In case he has an incident_,' one voice said.

'_But we averted the incident_.' Bruce recognised Penny's voice. '_Bruce is fine now.' _He felt his heart contract as she said his name, and felt guilty all over again. She'd trusted him, and look how he'd repaid that trust.

The two figures entered the lab, and Bruce saw that there was another female agent with Penny.

'_Where…is the room?'_ Penny asked, Bruce saw the agent fiddle with a tablet.

'_You can use this to track the two of you, if you like?_' the agent said and handed it to Penny.

'_Thank you,'_ Penny said, and looked down at it.

'_It was a pleasure to meet you_,' the woman said, and started to walk out. Bruce turned away, assuming sharing time was over. He stopped when he heard Penny's voice once more.

'_Wait,_' Penny said, and it was almost like she was talking directly to him. '_Do you know when Dr Banner will be…back?_' she asked softly and Bruce felt something twinge in his chest. Was she actually worried about him? After what he'd done?

'_No, sorry. But you can go check on him, later, if you wish?_' the agent said, and walked out, leaving Penny by herself. Fury paused the video and looked at Banner, crossing his arms.

'Do you see what I mean?' he asked.

'Do you mean: "Do I see what kind of a monster I am?" – then yeah. I could have killed her, and she – '

'She was concerned for your safety. _Is _concerned for yoursafety, Doctor,' Fury interrupted. 'You _do_ understand that this implies that she cares for you? Or for your safety as her patient, at least? In just a short few days, you've managed to endear yourself to someone. I don't know about you, but I suspect this is a fairly uncommon occurrence. How often are people willing to offer you friendship with no ulterior motive? And I can promise you, Doctor, that this woman has no ulterior motive.'

Banner nodded slowly, and ran a hand over his face. _What a mess. _He hadn't even been there for more than two days and he'd already caused this kind of drama. He really was better off alone.

'Enough with the self-pity, Doctor,' Fury snapped. 'I can practically see you brooding from here.'

'What do you want from me, exactly?' Bruce asked, matching the one-eyed man's tone exactly. He was tired, confused and…well, _angry_. No surprise there.

'I brought you to this room because I knew it would catch your attention,' Fury said. 'Some might argue that putting the gamma rage monster in a cage is a bad idea. Not me. Not when you need to make him listen.'

Bruce squinted at him. 'Hate to tell you this, but I think your reasoning is a little flawed.'

'Flawed, it may be, but will it get the job done?' Fury asked. It took Bruce a second to realise that he was actually asking a legitimate question.

'Will it get what job done?' Bruce asked.

'You've been in a lab with her all day. Do you _know_ what your limits are, Doctor? And can you stick by them?' Fury asked, almost challenged.

Bruce thought about Penny briefly, and how she'd been sitting on the floor, crying because of him. He traced her frozen form on the glass window absent-mindedly and closed his eyes. He could do this. He could help them. He could do what they needed him to do.

'Yes,' he answered confidently, and Fury nodded.

'Well alright then.'

**A Few Hours Later:**

Bruce was meditating.

He hadn't left the Panic Room – as he'd started calling it – just in case he bumped into Penny. He didn't want to risk letting the Other Guy out anytime soon. It was weird how she'd triggered it. Anger, excitement, any powerful emotion…those were the kinds of things that set it off.

All he'd done was catch a trace of her perfume.

Daisies.

Bruce felt the Other Guy push against his mind, straining to be let out. _No. Meditating. Calming thoughts. Not Penny. Not Penny's perfume._

It was irrational. He'd only known the girl a few days and already the Other Guy found her interesting. It was irrational and…unfair. This was why he couldn't have proper relationships with people. _This _was why he ostracized himself, as Fury had so eloquently put it. Never mind that Bruce should never have _let _her get so close in the first place. He knew better than that. And yet…he couldn't help but embrace that someone else would venture so close, knowing full well what he might do. He was only human.

_ Well…_

_Meditation, _he reminded himself. _You're supposed to clear your mind, Banner._

He wanted to spend some time adjusting to the sudden change in environment he was experiencing. Mainly, adjusting to the presence of Dr Masters. She was someone new, and as such, would take some time for him to fully trust, despite Fury's claim that she had no motives that he was aware of.

Bruce spent the next few minutes taking deep breaths, emptying his thoughts, clearing his mind, until it was completely blank. He almost welcomed the opportunity to relax for a moment, relishing in the sanctuary the Panic Room provided. No-one would bother him there, and he was free to meditate in peace. At the rate that he practised meditation, he wouldn't be surprised if he achieved enlightenment before he reached his forties.

However, disappointment – an emotion Bruce was _more_ than used to – soon arrived when he heard footsteps approaching the Panic Room, and he lost focus. His kept his eyes closed, trying to regain his meditative calm, and failed. He opened his mouth to speak, his eyes still shut. He'd tell whoever it was to go away, perhaps even threaten that to let the Other Guy out. He just wanted to be left alone for a while.

A gentle tap on the glass stopped his words and Bruce's eyes sprung open.

He was so glad he hadn't spoken.

It was Penny. She was standing there, a large thermos in one hand, a notepad and pen in the other, a smile on her face.

Bruce blanched, but quickly masked it, willing his face to give nothing away. He didn't know if he could handle seeing her, but he also didn't want to make her hate him any more than she probably already did, by telling her to go away.

She looked apologetic. 'Sorry to disturb you Dr Banner,' she said politely and he went to stand, feeling out of place on the ground. Instead, before he could, Penny sat, crossing her legs like she was in school.

He stared at her carefully, not quite trusting himself to speak. 'It's alright, Dr Masters,' he said eventually, and was glad that his voice betrayed no emotion. His gaze fell on her right hand, which was wrapped in a white plaster of some kind. He felt the Other Guy rumble and Bruce quickly quelled any thoughts about her wrist – that _he'd_ injured her – and closed his eyes. He relaxed his hands on top of his knees and took deep breaths.

'How…how are you?' Penny asked softly. 'And I mean, _really_.'

Bruce surveyed her through half-shut eyes. He didn't think she could see him watching her. 'I'm…tired. But alright, I suppose. Meditating helps,' he said calmly. 'How are you?' his voice sounded strained, and he fought to control it. 'I…heard about your…' he trailed off. 'I'm so sorry about your wrist,' he apologised, opening his eyes fully now. Penny was staring at him like some kind of bird, her pale face tilted to the side inquisitively.

She glanced down at her hand. 'What, this?' she held it up and shook her head. 'Hairline fractures. I'll be fine in a few days. It wasn't your fault, Doctor.' Bruce felt a twinge of guilt. It _was _his fault. 'It really wasn't,' she persisted. 'I just moved too quickly for you, Dr Banner.'

And she was back to calling him Dr Banner.

He shook his head. 'Trust me, Penny, it wasn't your fault.' _Whoops. Don't call her Penny, Banner. She's obviously not overly fond of you at the moment._

She blushed delicately and Bruce nearly laughed in surprise. Perhaps she didn't hate him after all?

'I believe it was no-one's fault…Bruce.' He secretly smiled. She glanced up at one of the cameras and seemed to think about something. Then she shrugged. 'I just thought you might like a cup of tea.' She held the thermos aloft slightly, and turned to glance at one of the guards over by the door.

'Can I get you to open the door for just a moment?' she asked, politely, and this time the guard didn't ignore her. But he didn't exactly help much, either.

'Afraid not, Dr Masters. Dr Banner is not to be let out until he requests it,' the agent said.

Penny turned to stare at Bruce, her green eyes wide. 'You're in there…of your own will?' she asked, her voice soft.

He shrugged. 'It gave me a chance to think. Though when I woke up, I definitely had a few objections,' he said with a tight smile.

She shook her head. 'I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come. If you want to be left alone…' She stood up, and started towards the door. Bruce stood.

'Wait,' he said, changing his mind from a few minutes earlier. Now he didn't want to be left alone at all. 'I don't mind…' She slowly turned to face him, a question on her face. He struggled to think of an excuse, other than that he just wanted to talk to her. 'After all…' he shrugged. '…You brought _tea_.' He wanted to convince that he meant her no harm. She _must _have known that it had been because of her that he'd nearly lost control. But it definitely wasn't _her_ fault.

She cracked a smile, and Bruce felt a spark of happiness. _He'd_ made her smile like that. Perhaps she wasn't so scared of him?

Penny glanced over at the guard. 'Could you please open the door?' she asked politely, and the guard silently assessed her. She sighed. 'Listen, you don't have to go in. _I'll _go in, if that's what worries you,' she offered.

Bruce froze. He could handle talking to her, yes, but being in the same space? He didn't know about that. He cleared his throat. 'Uh…Penny?' he asked, and she looked at him. 'Maybe you should let the guard bring it in,' he suggested, and saw her frown slightly.

'But I can – Oh. Uh, alright,' she agreed, and tilted her head towards the guard. 'You heard him. Dr Banner would like the door open. Only briefly, though. Could you give him this, please?' she held out the thermos, and hesitantly the guard took it, tapping a code into the panel on the bridge that connected the Panic Room and the Helicarrier. The door opened with a _hiss_ and cautiously, the guard entered.

Bruce rose an eyebrow. 'You _can_ just leave it there, if you want.' He gestured at the doorway, and the guard looked relieved, putting it down just inside the entrance before exiting, tapping another code to close the door. Bruce could have laughed. They thought they were safe with him in a cage. Even if that cage was poised over a thirty thousand foot drop, Bruce didn't really know if the Other Guy wouldn't be able to escape before they could do anything about it.

Bruce walked over to the thermos and picked it up, unscrewing the cap as he walked back over to his place near the edge of the room. Taking a seat, he poured a caramel brown substance into the cap, which served as a lid and looked at it curiously. Surely SHIELD didn't have such mundane things as thermoses aboard…

'It's mine, if you're wondering,' Penny said, and he looked up. 'I wasn't sure which tea you liked, so I chose Earl Grey. It's my favourite black tea,' she explained with a smile.

'Mine too,' he nodded. 'Although I don't mind English Breakfast, either.' For some reason, Penny went scarlet.

'Me too,' she murmured, and looked to the side. She picked up her notepad and looked at it severely, as if she hated its very existence. Heaven forbid Bruce should ever be on the receiving end of _that_ glare. 'I suppose I should write something down, but I just can't bring myself to…' she said with a sigh, and dropped the pad gently.

Bruce nodded, blowing some of the steam away from the makeshift mug. 'You've been through more than enough, Penny. Just take a moment to relax.'

She laughed. It was a melodic sound, like bells. 'Sorry,' she apologised. 'It's just…coming from…'

Bruce realised his stumble. 'Coming from _me_…Right. I can see the cause for laughter.'

'That's not to say I think it's laughable,' she said quickly, immediately serious. 'I don't mean to cause any offence.'

'No offence caused,' Bruce said, and took a sip of his tea. He pulled a face. _Woah. That's sweet. _Penny's eyes widened.

'Sorry! I didn't know how you liked it…'

'Usually black with no sugar,' he shrugged. 'Maybe a squeeze of lemon, if it's Earl Grey. But it's okay. I don't mind. I'm just grateful that you thought of me.'

Penny flushed. 'A proper tea-drinker, I see. I just made it strong with lots of sugar and a dash of milk. That's how you have tea when you're in shock,' she said.

Bruce felt his cheek twitch, threatening a smile. 'I'm not in shock,' he said, and saw her smile drop.

'I was,' she said softly, and looked into her lap. After a second, she glanced up at him and he saw the small fear in her eyes. He noticed how messy her hair was, her braid half come-undone, and her eyes red from crying. He felt sick, and the Other Guy shifted restlessly. 'I didn't mean that you – I wasn't saying – please don't – '

Bruce cut across her, stopping her apology in its tracks. 'Penny, stop apologising. You haven't done anything wrong.' He focussed on keeping a calm demeanour. He didn't want her to worry about him changing again.

'I just didn't want you to feel guilty,' she said quietly. And Bruce saw that her green eyes were glistening with tears. 'Please don't feel guilty,' she implored him.

Bruce felt as though his heart might burst. No one had shown him this much compassion in…well. A _really _long time. He found it hard to breathe suddenly, but it wasn't the Other Guy. It was just him accepting that someone was actually worried about him.

'I'm so sorry about earlier, Penny. I don't know what happened. One moment, I was fine, and then suddenly…I _wasn't.' _He shuddered at the memory.

She glanced at him. 'I thought perhaps it had been my fault,' she said carefully, and Bruce shook his head.

'It wasn't,' he said defiantly. 'It truly wasn't. I thought I'd be alright. I guess…I wasn't used to being close to people.' He saw the horrified look that passed over her face. 'That _doesn't_ mean it was your fault. I think…I don't know. I think it was a proximity thing?' he guessed, half telling the truth. 'That, and I wasn't used to you.'

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Penny move closer to the glass, so that she was right in front of it, right in front of him. He looked into her eyes and felt himself relax somewhat. Her eyes had a peaceful quality to them, though they teemed with unanswered questions and emotions. He remembered how they'd calmed him down earlier and just kept looking at them, allowing a kind of serenity to wash over him. He closed his eyes and took long, calming breaths.

After a moment, Penny spoke again, 'So…meditation, huh?' He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. 'I sit like this?' she asked, and he opened his eyes to see her trying to copy the way he was sitting, ankles tucked over knees. After a few seconds of trying, she could only do one leg, and so shrugged, sitting like that. Bruce couldn't help it. He smiled.

'Close enough,' he murmured softly, and closed his eyes once more. 'The aim of meditation is to clear the mind of all thought,' he said quietly. 'You want nothing in your head, and you _focus_ on nothing.'

'Nothing? That's…physically impossible, Dr Banner,' Penny said, and he heard the smile in her voice. He felt his own mouth twitch up in the corners.

'It's called enlightenment, Dr Masters. Buddhist monks can spend years trying to achieve it,' he said and fell silent, pushing all thought from his mind, until it was like a white, blank space. Then he focused on not thinking about that white space. The white space in itself was something that occupied his mind, and so he worked from there, trying to imagine what nothing looked like.

_Scratch._

_ Scratch, scratch, scratch._

_ What the hell is that? _Bruce thought, breaking concentration. He tried to hold onto the serenity, but eventually his curiosity got the better of him. He cracked open one eye.

Opposite him, head bent over her notepad, Penny was writing something. Writing or drawing, Bruce didn't know. She hadn't noticed that he was watching her yet, so he remained silent. Every now and then, she would glance up, look at him for a second or two, and then return to her work.

_Drawing, then, _Bruce thought.

_Hold on…She's not drawing _**me**_, is she?_

Her hair had fallen over her shoulder again, and was hanging over her lap. The notepad was balanced on one knee, and every few seconds, she would push her glasses up her nose, as they slid down as soon as she looked at the pad. After another five minutes, and he finally broke his silence, tilting his head.

'Dr Masters, what _are_ you doing?' he asked, as if he didn't know.

She looked up at him and flushed, dropping the pencil in her hand with a squeak. 'Oh! Er…Nothing…Just…taking some notes,' she lied.

Bruce supressed a smile. _Alright, prove it. _'Can I see them?' he asked, and she paled.

'Uh…they're not…finished?' she said weakly and Bruce laughed.

'I know you're drawing me, Penny,' he said with a smile, and her blush returned. It really was very pretty.

'Oh,' she mumbled. 'Sorry. I…I guess meditation isn't my thing.'

He shrugged. 'It isn't for everyone,' he agreed. 'Can I still see?' he asked quietly, and she looked mortified.

'Uh…I…it isn't…'

'Dr Masters,' he said seriously. 'How am I supposed to trust you with intimate knowledge about myself when you can't even show me a drawing of how you perceive me as your patient?' he asked, and if possible, her flush deepened.

Wordlessly, she turned the pad around and looked away from him, not wanting to see his reaction. Bruce couldn't quite make it out from where he was sitting, so he shook his head. 'You'll have to come closer,' he said with a smile, and watched as she shuffled forwards. 'A bit more. I don't have my glasses,' he explained.

She moved until the pad was pressed up against the glass, and he felt something akin to a shiver run down his spine. She'd sketched him, and it was good. It wasn't what he'd expected – something that showed his anger, or the Other Guy.

It was just…_him_. Just as he was. Sitting there, meditating, eyes shut. It was half-finished, but she must have started applying details to his face, because the way she'd drawn him, he looked sad, but at peace at the same time. He reached out a hand to touch the glass, and noticed that Penny was now looking at him.

He pulled back his hand and cleared his throat. 'That's…that's really good,' he said hoarsely, irritated that his voice betrayed so much emotion. The Other Guy shifted restlessly, taking interest, and he looked away from the picture.

'Thanks,' she said softly, pulling it back and closing the book. She wasn't going to leave, now, was she? Bruce hoped not. He was enjoying their conversations. No one else would talk to him for nearly so long.

'You're not leaving are you?' he asked with a frown and she stopped.

'No. Of course not. Not if you don't want me to,' she said, and settled once more. 'Although…If I'm going to stay, I really should write something down. About you. That _isn't_ a drawing,' she smiled and Bruce chuckled.

'Probably,' he agreed and un-crossed his legs. 'So, Dr Masters, what do you want to know?'

She glanced down at her notepad and then up at him. He was still smiling at her, and she opened her mouth to speak, but then shut it again, seemingly lost for words.

_That's not because of you_, he reminded himself. _You just fractured her wrist. Don't be expecting any feelings of endearment from her._

'I…uh, have some questions that I started writing down earlier. Do you mind if I record our conversation?' she asked, and brought out a phone. Bruce looked at it for a moment and nodded. 'Great. I can listen to it later,' she said and clicked a pen, about to ask the first question, when someone walked into the room.

Bruce looked over to the elevator and saw an agent emerge. He recognised her as the agent that had been in Calcutta. The one that pointed a gun at him. Bruce felt the Other Guy's presence, but was relieved when he didn't have to calm himself. He was perfectly at ease with the idea of the agent being in the room. Why was it that he became so anxious around Penny, then?

Penny caught his gaze and she turned to see the agent approach. 'Agent Romanoff? Is something wrong?' she asked.

The agent – Romanoff – neither denied nor confirmed the question. She just stood next to Penny and looked down at her until she stood. The agent ignored Bruce completely.

'Fury wants to see you. Now,' she said shortly, and turned to leave. 'I'll take you to him.'

Bruce saw Penny frown. He sensed some sort of tension between the two females, although it seemed to mostly come from the black-clad Russian. Penny sent him a look, and he shrugged. If she had to go, he guessed they could have their conversation later, although he didn't really want to stop talking to her, if he was being honest.

'…I'm busy,' Penny said, and Agent Romanoff froze.

'What was that?' the agent asked, and Penny's frown deepened.

'I said that I'd stay with Bru – Dr Banner. We were just beginning to discuss the emotional side effects of his condition.'

_Were we? I don't remember that…_Bruce thought. Then he realised perhaps she was just lying to get Romanoff to leave them alone. _She'd do that for me?_ he what he'd seen of the doctor – aside from her handling the situation earlier – she seemed for too timid to stand up to someone as foreboding as Romanoff.

'I don't care what you were doing. You didn't answer your phone, so Fury sent me to you. And now you're going to come with me.'

'_No,_' Penny said more forcefully, her English accent bristling. 'It's quite important. That's my job here, isn't it? To aid Dr Banner in developing a cure? Well, I need to do a psychological analysis of Dr Banner's state of mind before I start doing any tests, or theorising.'

Romanoff hesitated, and Penny pushed forward. 'You want this ship to be safe? Then please let me do my job. If Fury wants to talk to me, then…he can come to me. This is too important, and we don't have a lot of time left before Dr Banner needs to commence work on the Tesseract,' she said smoothly. Bruce was impressed. Had she just pulled all those excuses out of thin air?

Romanoff glared at Penny for a short second before taking a step forward. She wasn't going to do anything – probably just try and convince her, but before he could stop himself, Bruce heard himself growl softly, 'I wouldn't do that.'

All too quickly, the Other Guy was closer to the surface than he liked, and the thought of Penny leaving just made him more agitated. _For god's sake. Get over this irrational attachment, Big Guy, _he urged. The reaction was completely out of character for Bruce.

'Sorry,' he apologised, and held his hands up. 'I'm fine.'

Penny's gaze flickered to him, and then back to the agent. Romanoff's eyes widened and then settled back into a glare. She spun on her heel and walked out, the elevator whisking her away.

Once she was gone, Penny let out a shaky breath.

'Are you alright?' Bruce asked, and she ran a hand through her hair. She nodded mutely.

'Just peachy,' she said, echoing his words from earlier. 'I don't know what I've done, but that woman hates me,' she observed with a worried glance towards the door.

'I'm sure it wasn't you,' Bruce said confidently. Nobody could hate Penny for something she did. She was too…likeable. Or maybe that was just his biased opinion. She was the first person to actually care about his wellbeing in an eon.

She smiled, 'Thanks,' and then took a seat back on the floor, picking up the notepad. 'But are _you _alright?' she asked. Apparently she hadn't missed his small outburst. Bruce weighed his options. He could either tell her his fears now – that it was _her _that the Other Guy was reacting to – or keep it to himself for now, at least until he was 100% positive she wouldn't run away screaming.

Bruce chose the latter.

'I'm fine. Just…after-effects from my outburst earlier. I might be a bit on edge for a while until I settle.' Penny nodded in understanding, absorbing the half-truth without batting an eyelid.

'As long as you're sure,' she said, and then groaned. 'But, unfortunately, those weren't lies,' she said with a frown. 'I need to talk about…_emotions_ now. And the like.' Bruce shrugged. She was still there, still talking to him. He didn't really mind what about. If she wanted to discuss emotions, he had plenty to talk about. No shortage on emotion with him. He only _looked _controlled and mild-mannered.

That being said, he didn't want to tell her too much. He was all too grateful that her good opinion of him hadn't been ruined by his earlier actions, and didn't want to risk it. Bruce was also a little apprehensive, because he wasn't sure he _knew _how to share his feelings any more. After controlling them for so long, he'd gotten _used_ to keeping them to himself.

He grimaced. 'Where do you want to start?'

**AN:**** *phew* that's a pretty long chapter :)**

**So, I hope you all enjoyed.**

**Please let me know what you thought. Review, favourite, follow, whatever – it all makes me very happy!**

**Until next time,**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


	6. Chapter 5: Too Close

**AN: ****Hola everyone!**

**YAY MORE REVIEWS!**

**And thank you very much for them – they certainly made me smile! So – here's another chapter for you to sink your teeth into. I hope you enjoy it, and where I'm going with the story.**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

**5. Too Close**

Nick Fury – for want of a better word – was furious.

He'd tried to get in contact with Dr Masters several times now, and when he was told by Agent Romanoff that she _refused_ to take the time to see him_, _in favour of conducting some kind of emotional experiment with Dr Banner…he nearly contemplated terminating her association with SHIELD right there and then. He had no room for insolence on his ship. It was only Romanoff's words that prevented him from doing so.

'Sir, I tried to get her to come, but Dr Banner stopped me.'

'He did what now?' Fury asked, confused. 'Dr Banner _prevented_ you from bringing Dr Masters to me?' Natasha's nod confirmed this. 'Well I'll be damned,' he mused to himself.

'Sir?' Romanoff inquired.

Fury smiled suddenly, and saw the agent's eyes widen. Now she was staring at him strangely. He felt his smile drop. 'Is something bothering you, Agent?'

'No, Sir. Just…Are you alright?' she inquired.

'I'm perfectly fine, Romanoff. I was just smiling.'

'_Oh.' _The agent's surprise made Fury scowl. Perhaps he shouldn't have smiled. He didn't do it very often, so it had the tendency to catch people off-guard.

'I'm smiling, because I've just realised that I can't possibly fire Dr Masters now.'

'Why not? And why is that a _good_ thing?' Romanoff asked, and Fury noted the distaste in her voice.

'Just because she saved your life doesn't mean you should hate her, Natasha. In fact, some might argue the complete opposite,' Fury said with a knowing look, and the agent looked straight ahead, refusing to look at him directly.

'I don't hate her, Sir, I…' she stopped. 'I hate that she hadto _save_ me. I shouldn't need saving. _She_ should need saving.'

Fury shook his head. 'Agent, you're one of the best I've got. Dr Masters is a scientist. In a fight, I'd take you over her in a heartbeat. And let's not forget, this is Dr Banner we're talking about here. I'd actually be inclined to think of Masters' actions in Calcutta as rash, if I didn't know they were due to lack of information. And intentional lack of information, at that.'

'Sir?' Romanoff inquired, confused.

'I let her go in there without information on purpose, Agent. She might have been at risk, yes, but have you noticed the result of that meeting?'

'Result?' Natasha asked, and tilted her head. 'You don't mean when Banner almost changed – '

'I mean exactly when Banner almost changed, Agent Romanoff. He's a liability. Uncontrollable. Now, we have a way of controlling him. I had my first suspicions in the lab, earlier today after his near-incident, but now it's clear.'

'What's clear, Sir?' she inquired.

'That for the first time in a long while, Dr Banner is coming out of the cage he has built for himself. He's obviously attached to Dr Masters, although he might not realise it himself, and as long as she's around, I believe we have a way of making sure Banner doesn't pose as much of a threat to this ship, or the people that are on board it.'

Romanoff frowned. 'So…You're not angry with her?'

'Oh, I'm furious,' Fury said, and noted that Romanoff didn't smile. _Good_. He wasn't joking. Dr Masters and he needed to have a serious heart-to-heart on the subject of authority, and what it meant to be on board his ship. 'I'll be having words with Dr Masters. But not until her work with Dr Banner is over for today. Despite her insolence, I still need her working as fast as possible, and they've already had a setback today. I don't need any more.'

'Of course,' Romanoff said, and then grew silent. 'Do we know what caused the sudden change, Sir?' she asked quietly and he realised she was referring to Banner. He pulled up some of the video footage from the lab and pressed play. It showed the moments just prior to Banner's sudden change in demeanour.

It showed Masters sitting next to him, looking at a list of some kind, and then a split second later, when Banner staggered away from the desk, throwing his hands out to keep her back. Fury paused the video, and Romanoff looked up at him, confused.

'I don't understand. There was nothing stressful that occurred,' she said.

'It's not just stress, Agent. Any overwhelming emotion. Anger, stress, happiness, excitement.'

She frowned, putting two and two together. 'You're not suggesting that Banner is _attracted _to her, are you? That's insane. He knows the dangers. He wouldn't let himself become attached to someone like that.'

Fury shrugged. 'I know that, you know that, Banner knows that, but does the _Other Guy_?'

'You think it was the Hulk?' Romanoff questioned dubiously.

'Makes sense,' Fury speculated, and zoomed in on part of the video before rewinding and pressing play once more. He and Natasha watched the screen that had both Penny's and Bruce's heart-rates. As Penny started reading over the file, Banner's pulse jumped suddenly, but he didn't react for a few seconds, and _that's_ when Bruce pushed away from her.

Romanoff looked up at Fury with wide eyes, sparkling with curiosity. 'It was the _Hulk_ reacting to her?' she speculated. 'Banner wasn't aware of the change in heart-rate…' she said quietly, and Fury nodded.

'It appears so. And it just begs the question – if Dr Masters was the one responsible for the change, how was she able to prevent it?'

* * *

Penny was back in the lab.

After a few hours of conversation with Bruce about the nature of his condition, she felt like it would be a good idea to look over the list he'd written for her. The one he'd never had the opportunity to go over. They'd been…interrupted.

Penny had left after their conversation, when she started to see Bruce's eyelids droop. He must have been exhausted, and there she was, selfishly taking up his time to learn all she could about him.

Because that's what she'd been doing. Learning about him.

Slowly, achingly slowly, and despite the fact that he was a very conservative man, she'd learnt quite a few things. She got the feeling that he wasn't exactly comfortable sharing his emotions, and she could understand. After concealing any prominent displays of emotion for years, it would be hard. Penny had wanted to keep things professional, and so they'd only really touched on any of the deeper issues, like if he'd had any proper relationships since the experiment went wrong.

One. Betty Ross.

It hadn't ended well.

As soon as she got back to the lab, she looked the woman up, like he suggested. Penny had simply forgotten to do it the night before, her mind too preoccupied in finding out as much as she could about gamma radiation and the like.

She sort of wished she hadn't looked her up.

It had been Betty's father – General Ross – that instigated the experiment that changed Bruce forever, and after that, Betty and Bruce had never truly been able to have a…normal relationship.

It made Penny sad. He deserved to have someone who cared for him. She had no idea how hard it must be to be unable to get close to people – both physically and emotionally. It must be awful.

But after it made Penny sad, it made her worried. She became concerned as she found picture of Betty on her file, and as she clicked on it to enlarge in, she gasped.

The woman looked exactly like her.

Well. Not _exactly. _They had different facial features, and different heights, eye colour…But still. Pale skin, dark hair…they were both _scientists. _Penny recalled Bruce's words from the other night: "_It seems they've figured out I have a type."_

_ He wasn't kidding, _she thought to herself.

Wait…did that mean that he…found her attractive? The thought did not have quite the adverse effect she'd thought it would. Instead, Penny felt a smile spread over her face.

_No. Enough of this. You don't want to put him in a worse situation than he's already in._

_ Besides…why on earth would he find you attractive?_

Penny pushed any thoughts about the handsome doctor from her mind, trying to focus on the list in front of her. She felt like something was missing from it. That _something _hadn't been tried yet. But she couldn't put her finger on it.

After looking over the notes that Bruce had left for her, researching Betty Ross, and discovering the startling similarities between her and Penny, she was entirely ready to go to sleep. She was exhausted after the events of the day, although she couldn't say they were entirely horrible. Talking to Bruce had been nice, even if there was a glass barrier between them. She wanted to get to know him better, so she could know how to help him. She was only thankful that she'd stopped him from changing, earlier. Apparently, according to his files, if he actually _physically_ started to change, there was no stopping him.

So I other words, it had still been _Bruce_ who had fractured her wrist, not the Other Guy.

This thought – although unwelcome – was interesting to Penny. It suggested that first the Other Guy overtook Bruce's mind, and _then_ his body. If she could just stop his _mind _from overreacting…or eradicate the mutation completely…

'Dr Masters?'

Penny froze. She'd know that voice anywhere.

Plastering a smile on her face, she turned to face Nicky Fury. A very pissed-off looking Nick Fury.

_Uh-oh. Not good._

'Director Fury,' Penny said brightly, hoping that he might not be too upset with her for refusing to see him earlier.

'You and I need to talk.'

_Ah. There goes that hope._

'About?' she inquired, shutting off the tablet she'd been using, and setting Bruce's list aside.

'About kittens,' he said sarcastically. 'What do you think, Masters? _Dr Banner_.'

_Oh. Right. _'Of course,' Penny stuttered and stood up, feeling for all the world like a child about to be scolded.

'You disobeyed a direct order today. Not just one, but _several_, I might add.' He crossed his arms.

_Hold on…several? _Sure, she'd ignored Romanoff, but that was it. Wasn't it?'Uh…I'm not sure I understand, Director…?"

'First, you put the safety of yourself and the others around you at risk when you purposefully sent the guards out of the room this morning. Following that, you refused to step aside when Dr Banner became compromised, and then disobeyed a _direct order_ from me, asking you to leave the room. Finally, you refuse to see me.' He scowled at her with one eye. 'Just what am I supposed to make of this, Doctor?'

Penny hadn't realised all that had happened. Had she really done those things? 'Uh, Director Fury, listen, I didn't mean – '

'I'm sure you didn't _mean _anything by it, Doctor. I just want to know where we stand,' he growled.

_Wait, what? _'You…want to know where we…stand?'

'Clearly, you have issues with authority, which I find a mystery since every time we meet in person – with the exception of this morning – you give the impression of being a person who knows when to do _exactly_ what they're told.'

Penny bristled. She wasn't a pushover. 'I do what I'm told, _when _I agree with what I'm doing,' she glared at him. 'I won't explain my actions today because you want me to, I'll explain them because _I _want _you _to understand how I work.' Penny slid her glasses up her nose. 'You think that you can treat Dr Banner like everyone else you use, but you're wrong. He'll never say anything, but a bit of tip-toeing around him might not _actually_ hurt. He's already uncomfortable enough as it is, and he doesn't need you bullying him, pressuring him, sending guards after him everywhere he goes! Just because he holds a potential risk – '

'_Potential_ risk?' Fury inquired. 'Were you and I in a different room today? He _is _a risk. He could have killed us all.'

'But he _didn't,' _Penny snapped. _Hmm. I snapped. I can't remember the last time I snapped at someone. _'He didn't – which is a miracle, by the way – and since you're the one who brought him here in the first place, you should be thanking your lucky stars he didn't actually – '

He interrupted her. 'And by thanking "my lucky stars," you mean _you_, don't you Doctor?' Fury glared at her, his arms crossed.

Penny faltered. 'M-me?' she laughed. 'I doubt I had anything to do with it.'

Fury stared at her silently for several moments. 'Dr Masters, this may be difficult for you to believe, but I actually like you.'

'Pardon?' Penny was more confused than ever. At what point did the conversation take this turn?

'You heard me. I like you, because you provide a safety net. I'm not sure if you're aware, Doctor, but it was _you _who stopped Dr Banner from changing today.'

Penny remembered how he'd calmed down when she approached him, and how she'd been able to talk him back to his senses. She shook her head hesitantly. '…No…I'm certain that was just Bruce controlling himself.' Penny was so confused at this point, she didn't even care that she'd called him "Bruce", not "Dr Banner."

Fury rose a dark eyebrow. 'Dr Masters, I'm having your room moved. Effective immediately.'

_What? What was going on in this conversation?_

'What?' Penny asked, and then grimaced at her manners. 'Sorry. _Pardon_?'

He smirked. 'You evidently work well with Dr Banner, and have some kind of calming effect on him. I'm moving your private quarters to the same floor as his. You'll be right next door. You were previously on the opposite side of the ship, but I believe it's for the good of us all to have you stationed closer. He listens to you, despite having known you for so short a time. I just wanted to warn you not to get too close. Banner's lost people close to him in the past, and I don't think he'd handle losing anyone else…very well.'

'I…We're not close…' she protested.

He looked at her sceptically. 'Just remember, Doctor. Not. Too. _Close_.'

And with that, he left.

* * *

It took Penny almost an hour to find her new room. After Fury left, she realised that not only did she _not_ know where Bruce's room was, but now she didn't know where _her own _room was. She ended up looking it up on her file.

Then it had been a matter of navigating herself through the colossal airship until she found the right place, and even then, she'd gone to the wrong room.

Penny scanned her card on the door, unsure as to why it wasn't opening for her. She gave a frustrated sigh. It was taking her this long to just _get in the door_. She didn't want to think about how long it would take to move her things into the room. She was on the opposite side of the Helicarrier now.

She groaned and gave up, letting her forehead fall against the door with a thud. She was _tired. _She'd had a _confusing_ day. All she wanted to do was get inside her room and –

The door opened, and Penny stumbled, something catching her at the last moment. A warm hand was on her arm, holding her up, and Penny slowly looked up to stare into a pair of familiar brown eyes. Bruce had stopped her from falling, but now he inhaled sharply. Hastily, he let go of her and she stared at him, confused.

'What are you doing in my room?' she asked, feeling her blush creep up her neck, embarrassed that she had fallen.

Bruce frowned. He was dressed in a white t-shirt and loose grey pyjama pants, barefoot once more. Through the shirt, Penny could see his muscled shoulders, and she tried not to stare.

'What am I doing in _your _room?' he asked, and laughed. 'I think that's the question I should be asking _you_, Dr Masters.' He was smiling now, and Penny felt relieved that she hadn't caused him any stress.

'Um…this is my room, isn't it?' she asked, and peered around his shoulder. The room was fairly bare, with the exception for some clothes lying on a chair, a leather notebook lying by the bed, and a closed suitcase on the floor. _Oh. Maybe __**not**__ my room_…Penny thought.

'Isn't your room on the other side of the Helicarrier?' Bruce asked, and she was about to agree when she remembered why she was there.

'Ye – No. Actually, I've been moved,' she told him.

'Moved?' he inquired, and she nodded.

'Yes, just a couple of hours ago. Hello there, neighbour,' she said with a small wave. 'I'm in room 109,' she said.

Bruce smiled. 'I believe that's the next door to your _right_, Dr Masters,' he said politely.

_Oh. Whoops. _'I…I've been trying to get into your room, haven't I?' she asked with a grimace.

'I think you might have. I don't mind though,' he said with a grin, and Penny felt her blush deepen. 'Actually, it's probably a good thing. I wasn't able to sleep,' he added. Bruce seemed to realise she was standing in his doorway, and opened the door wider. 'You're…welcome to come in, if you'd like?'

_I __**would**__ like. We can talk about some more theories…and…stuff. I would like that __**very**__ much, _Penny thought to herself, and then remembered Fury's warning about not getting too close.

'I…would, but…I'm a bit tired myself, actually,' she said. It was true, but it didn't make her feel any better about it.

He nodded in understanding, but Penny thought she saw his smile loose some of its brightness. 'It's no problem,' he shrugged. 'I was actually just thinking, tomorrow, perhaps we could try some kind of relaxant?' He changed topics so fast, Penny almost had trouble keeping up. What was he talking about now?

_A cure for the Other Guy_, she scolded herself. _Obviously._

She nodded. 'That sounds like a good idea, although I was just going over the list…You've tried several of those before.'

He frowned. 'I know. I've even tried herbal teas. Nothing seems to work.'

Penny felt a pang of sadness. 'Well, I was going to go to sleep, but I think I might listen to our conversation from earlier. See if I can think of anything that might help?'

Bruce looked at her with a frown. 'Oh, no, Penny. You don't have to do that. Go get some sleep.'

'I'm not…that tired…' Penny paused as she yawned. 'Don't let that detract from what I just said, by the way.'

He laughed. 'Get some sleep, Dr Masters. That's an order.'

_Orders. _Fury. Disobeying. _Too close_. Penny winced, and nodded hastily. 'Alright. Okay. I'll go to sleep,' she said quickly, hoping to placate him.

Bruce looked at her dubiously. 'Are you lying to me, Doctor?' he asked, and tilted his head to the side.

She shook her head. 'No.' He rose an eyebrow. '_Maybe_. I'll just listen to it as I go to sleep. Like listening to music. Only…with more science.'

'I suppose that's alright.' He sighed. 'I'll be in the lab early, I reckon. I don't think I'll sleep that much. It feels like one of _those_ nights,' he said bitterly.

Penny frowned. 'Do you…want a cup of tea, or something?'

He held up a mug in his left hand and shook his head. 'I'm all sorted, but thanks.'

She smiled, wondering how he'd kept it balanced when she fell on him. 'Don't mention it.' Penny took a step towards where she thought her room was. 'Goodnight Dr Banner.'

'Uh, Penny?' he said, and she paused. 'Your _other _right,' he said, his brown eyes twinkling.

Penny flushed and started walking the other way.

'Goodnight Penny,' he said, a smile in his voice.

'Goodnight Bruce,' she murmured, embarrassed, as let herself into her room.

* * *

It turned out she didn't have to worry about getting her things moved. When she opened the door, her personal belongings were already there, placed in exactly the same spots they'd been in her last room. She frowned at the bareness of the room. It was missing something. _A lot _of somethings, actually. Penny resolved to do some more sketches or paintings when she had the time, and stick them to the walls. That being said, she pulled out the half-finished sketch of Bruce and pinned it up above the desk. She was pleased with it, but not overly. She'd only managed to capture some of the emotions that he obviously felt. The sadness and peace she'd managed to get, but she knew there was much more to him than that.

_Enough. Go to bed. Think about __**science, **__not art. _

Penny pulled on a pair of flannel pyjamas, glad that she'd brought her own clothes with her, instead of being forced to wear the standard issue SHIELD clothing, which looked uncomfortable. And sterile. If there was one thing that Penny hated, it was sterility, and uniformity. Even though she was a scientist and she probably _should _have enjoyed consistency, because it supported findings and hypotheses, Penny couldn't help but love the unexplainable. It meant there was something more to discover, something more to learn about, to try and solve.

_Perhaps that's why you find Bruce so attractive, _she mused before she could stop herself. He was another puzzle for her to solve. An anomaly. But he was also a person, and that made her job all that more important. She wanted to _help _him. Not just solve him.

That night, she tried listening to all of their conversation, but she fell asleep halfway through, the pleasing tones of Bruce's voice lulling her to sleep.

'_How does it feel when you change?' _she heard herself ask, seconds before she lost consciousness.

'_It hurts.'_

**AN: ****So. I hope you all liked, although it's not nearly as long as my other chapters have been. I'll probably update the next one sooner rather than later. Please leave a review, as it really gets me to write faster, and gives me lots of warm, fuzzy feelings!**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


	7. Chapter 6: Roger that, Captain

**AN: ****Gah. I Know I said I'd update earlier BUT THEN THINGS HAPPENED. Sorry! But…I have this lovely chapter for you. I like this one. Oh, and I don't think anyone has noticed yet, but I've kinda made Bruce younger than he should actually be. Since Penny's quite young. And Mark Ruffalo makes a young looking Bruce, even with the few grey hairs (which I totally adore, btw). We shall blame it on stress stemming from the Other Guy XD**

**Hope you're all still enjoying – there's some Penny/Bruce fluff(ish) in this chapter, and much more interaction between the two of them than in the last. Sorry about that :D I just had to do some things.**

**As always – review! It really makes me write more, and makes me so happy, and lets me know what you're thinking. So. Enjoy!**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

**6. Roger That, Captain**

Penny walked to the lab the following morning, a mug of English Breakfast in her hand. Black, no sugar.

She tried telling herself that it was just because she wanted to have it black – she _did _have her tea black every now and then – but she knew it was really because of Bruce.

That night, she'd heard a mumbling from the room next door – Bruce's room – and had nearly gone to knock on his door to check if he was alright. However, after a while, the sounds stopped, and she'd fallen back to sleep before she could make up her mind to take off her blanket.

It was on her way to the lab when she saw the man.

At first, she hadn't noticed anything, and was just walking along, scanning over the list from Bruce, her headphones plugged in as she re-listened to their conversation from the day before.

Generally speaking, walking, reading and listening to music were not three things Penny would normally have done at once. She wasn't the type to risk falling over, or bumping into something, but that morning, she wanted to cram as much information into her head as she could, so that she and Bruce could theorise properly. According to a memo she'd been sent, the rest of the Avengers team were supposed to be arriving later that day. Loki had already been in possession of Tesseract for two days, and that was two days too many for Nick Fury.

She was just listening to Bruce talk about what it was like to wake up after a change, and was glancing down at his list, when she rounded a corner, crashing into a muscled chest.

'Oh!' she squeaked, taking a step back, bending down to pick up her dropped notes. She just assumed it was an agent of SHIELD. 'I'm so sorry, Age – '

'Apologies, Ma'am. I didn't see you there,' said a pleasant, smooth voice.

Penny glanced up through her glasses and nearly squeaked again. She knew that face. 'Um…' She shook her head. 'It was my fault…Captain Rogers,' she said weakly.

Captain America was kneeling in front of her, his hand outstretched, holding her notes.

He flashed a smile and Penny felt a blush rise to her cheeks. 'You seem to know my name, but I don't know yours, Miss…?' he said, his head tilting to the side.

Penny brushed some of her hair behind her ear. 'Uh…Penny Masters. _Dr_ Penny Masters.'

'Dr Masters,' he nodded, and stood. He offered his arm to help her up, and she took it hesitantly. He lifted her gently, and looked her over. 'Are you alright? I hope I didn't startle you,' he apologised.

She shook her head, trying to ignore how obviously fit the man was. She could see muscles _everywhere, _a result of the super-soldier serum, no doubt. 'Not at all, Captain. I was just on my way to the lab…Are…are the rest of the Avengers on board too?' she inquired, curious.

He shook his head. 'Just me, Romanoff, and…I'm told…Dr Banner?'

Penny nodded. 'I'm on my way to see him now. I'm his…' _Doctor? No. That makes him sound unstable. _'Assistant,' she said hastily, and Rogers nodded.

'Of course. I was just on my way to the bridge, but perhaps I can help you carry your books?' he offered, and Penny blushed again. Chivalry wasn't dead, apparently. She was about to disagree when she remembered that the lab was on the way to the bridge.

'Actually…since we're both headed that way, that would be much appreciated, Captain,' she said with a smile.

'Please, call me Steve,' he insisted, and took the stack of books from her arms.

She nodded. 'Penny,' she mumbled, and then started to walk towards the lab.

'So how long have you been aboard the Helicarrier, Miss Penny?' Steve asked her as they walked.

'Just a couple of days. I'm here to help Dr Banner with…well. With whatever he needs, really,' she said truthfully. Her job description was to find a cure for Bruce, but she'd do whatever he asked of her. She just wanted to help.

'Sounds like a lucky man,' Steve smiled at her, and Penny blushed.

'Um,' she fumbled, just as they came to the lab door. She swiped her card distractedly, and Steve smiled.

'I'm only messing with you, Miss Penny,' he said good-naturedly, as they walked into the lab. He set the books down on a bench, and Penny glanced up to see Bruce looking at something on a screen, completely absorbed in the task. He glanced up from his work when she waved and he smiled. She returned it, before turning to Steve.

'Uh, Captain Rogers, this is Dr Bruce Banner. Dr Banner – Captain Steve Rogers,' she said, gesturing between the two men haphazardly.

Bruce walked over and pulled off his glasses.

'Captain. I've heard good things about you,' he said with a nod, and Steve tilted his head in appreciation, standing straight.

'And I, you, Doctor.' Steve offered his hand, and after a careful moment of consideration, Bruce shook it.

_What? _Penny thought, surprised. _He didn't shake _**my**_ hand the other day…_ She decided to ask him about it later.

Bruce rose an eyebrow after he let go of Steve's hand. 'Really? You've heard good things? About _me_?'

Penny couldn't help the smile that pulled at the corner of her mouth. For someone who had so many issues, he could still make a joke. It was good to know.

_Why is that good to know, Penny? _she asked herself. _It's not like that's a detail that will help your research._

Penny pushed away her thoughts – both rational and irrational – and slid Bruce a sidelong glance. If he noticed, he didn't look at her, but she thought she saw his mouth twitch at the corners.

'I was just on my way to the main deck,' Steve explained, 'when I bumped into Miss Penny here, and well, I couldn't just let her carry all those books by herself, now, could I?'

Bruce hesitated before answering. 'No. I guess not.'

_What does that mean? _Penny thought, and her stomach rumbled. Both men sent her sharp glances.

'Oh!' she exclaimed. 'I didn't have a chance to eat breakfast. I was up early. Doing…uh…research.' And by research, she meant finishing some sketches she'd brought with her, and decorating her room. Not to mention finishing the sketch of Bruce.

What could she say? She'd been unable to sleep, and drawing the thing that was on her mind seemed to help her. She couldn't help it if the thing on her mind had been Bruce.

Bruce sent her a knowing look. 'You weren't going over the list again, were you? That's the falling of every scientist. Too caught up in the work to take care of themselves.'

She shook her head. Thank goodness he hadn't actually guessed correctly. That would have been awkward to explain. 'No. Well. _Yes, _but I wasn't caught up in it…I was just trying to think. I could definitely go for some breakfast right about now.'

Steve nodded. 'Well, I was about to grab some for myself. What can I get for you?' he offered.

Penny faltered. 'Oh! You don't have to do that for me,' she said.

'Of course I do,' Steve said. 'You're here to help Dr Banner, right? You can't help him if your only thought is about your missing breakfast,' he smiled.

Penny thought for a moment. 'Um…Is pancakes with maple syrup too much to ask? If they have them, that is.'

'Not at all, Miss Penny,' Steve smiled. 'I'll be back in a few minutes,' he said, and turned to leave.

'Thanks!' Penny called after him, before facing Bruce. 'You've had breakfast, I assume?' she inquired, and he nodded.

'I was awake quite early. Didn't sleep very well,' he said with a tired shrug.

She nodded. 'Yes, I heard you talking or mumbling last night. Were you alright? I was about to knock on your door, but you stopped.'

Bruce rose his eyebrows. 'I didn't realise you could hear me. Sorry,' he apologised. 'I was just practising some mantras. Trying to get used to the idea of…well,' he stopped. '_You_.'

Penny felt her eyes widen. 'Me?' she inquired, putting her notes down on the table. 'What's strange about me?' she asked, taken aback slightly.

He seemed to assess her for a moment before explaining. 'I wasn't sure about it yesterday, but I think I understand why I changed. I thought about it for a while after you left, once I went back to my room.'

'And?' Penny spurred when he grew silent.

'And…I think it's the Other Guy. No surprise _there_ – but I think he…I dunno. Likes you? Wants to meet you, I guess could be a way of interpreting it.' His brown eyes were wary, as if expecting her to bolt. It wasn't a completely ridiculous notion. Penny felt a bit like bolting.

The Other Guy was interesting in _her? _The thought scared Penny more than she liked.

'Uh…' she was lost for words. She swallowed. 'When you say "like"…?'

Bruce shook his head. 'I think it's a curiosity thing. You're the first person in a long time who hasn't been afraid of proximity and what I might do.'

Well, _that_ was a lie. Penny was terrified of what he might do, or more specifically, the consequences for his actions, and how SHIELD would handle it.

She shook her head. 'No…I'm still worried,' she said. 'I just…guess I'm more scared of what the _consequences _would be, rather than what you might actually do. I don't think SHIELD would take lightly to having the Hulk running rampage on their Helicarrier…'

Bruce smiled gently 'No. Somehow I think you're right. But what kind of consequences are you referring to?' he inquired

She shrugged. 'I don't know if they could actually do this, but I don't know…lock you up? Experiment on you? I don't exactly have a lot of trust for government agencies.' _And there's a bloody good reason for that, but you don't need to about it._

Bruce nodded. 'Well, that's definitely an opinion we share,' he smiled bitterly. 'Anyway. I spent a lot of last night thinking about what your presence meant for my control…and came to the conclusion that I'm just going to have to concentrate on it more around you.'

Penny nodded silently, eyes wide. She couldn't believe that she had such an effect on him. It was weird. 'Uh, listen,' she began. 'We can get a different doctor, if you want, to help you – '

'No, Dr Masters,' he interrupted, holding his hands up in a peace-offering. 'It's quite alright. I just have to…adjust.'

She nodded hesitantly. 'Well. Just…let me know if you want me to leave the room, or if I'm making you anxious or anything like that.'

He nodded. 'Of course. But I think I've got a handle on it now. I've been practising controlling my emotions for about eight years. I think I can handle a few days in an uncomfortable environment.' He stopped, but then must have seen the hurt look on her face. 'But it was _always _going to be uncomfortable, Penny, it's not your fault. Having someone like _me_ on a ship like thiswith an organisation like SHIELD was never going to be a walk in the park,' he said with a shrug.

Penny fiddled with the end of her plait, which she had redone since the day before. She'd been an absolute mess when she went to visit Bruce in the glass cage, or "Panic Room" as he so aptly put it.

'Well…alright. Just…let me know,' Penny reiterated.

'Don't worry, I think you'll know,' he said with a smile, just as Steve walked back in the room, two plates in hand. One had a few pancakes on it, the other had…more than a few. Penny felt a weird happy feeling bubble in her chest as she realised that Captain America had brought her breakfast. She grinned as he handed her the smaller plate, and rose her eyebrows at his colossal stack.

'Enough pancakes there, Captain?' she teased, and he laughed.

'Well. A man's gotta eat, Miss Penny,' he said with a wink.

Bruce had slid his glasses back on, and was staring at something on a screen, but glanced up to squint at Steve. 'I can imagine with the super-soldier serum, you'd go through food a lot faster. You'd need to replenish your carbohydrates especially?' he inquired, and the Captain nodded.

'Yes. How did you know?'

Bruce shrugged. 'I kinda endure a similar thing. Part of my…condition.'

Penny glanced at him. So he needed to eat a lot? That seemed reasonable, considering he probably used up _a lot _of energy going through changes, if his sudden lethargy from the previous day was anything to go by. 'Well. Word is you're the man to find the Tesseract, Doctor?' Steve asked, and Penny set the plate of pancakes down, cutting a slice and taking a bite. It was surprisingly good.

Bruce nodded. 'Is that the only word on me?' he inquired with a nervous smile, and Steve shrugged.

'It's the only one I care about,' Steve said.

Bruce nodded. 'Yes. Well, first I'm working on…a separate project with Dr Masters here, but by this afternoon, my attentions will be wholly focussed on finding the Tesseract, and tracing its gamma signature. I've already set up some preliminary scanners. It's too weak for anyone else to track, apparently. That's why I'm here.'

Steve sent Penny a questioning glance at the mention of "separate project", and she shrugged. Maybe the other Avengers weren't supposed to know about the search for a cure?

'Right,' Steve said, and then glanced around as an announcement came over the speakers.

_'Captain Rogers to the bridge. Director Fury has a mission for you concerning the alien Loki. He's been spotted in Stuttgart,' _said a female voice, and Penny recognised it as Agent Hill's. Steve glanced upwards and then back to Penny. 'Looks like I'm up, Miss Penny. Keep up the good work.'

Penny nodded, and then froze. Something – a small idea, she wasn't sure if anything, but thought she should mention it anyway – had just occurred to her. 'Uh, Captain?'

'Yes, Miss Penny?' he asked, and she frowned in concentration.

'Could you tell Fury that…I might have an idea for the project Dr Banner and I are working on? Can you ask him if…' she sent Bruce a sidelong glance. '…if there are any gamma lasers on board? Or if we can get one?'

Bruce's eyes widened marginally, but he didn't say anything. Steve tilted his head in curiosity, but then nodded. 'Of course. I'll relay the message to the Director.'

'Excellent,' Penny smiled. 'Thank you,' she added. 'Promise you'll be safe?'

He smiled. 'Always,' and then the Captain left, taking his colossal stack of pancakes with him. Penny took a few more bites of hers before she realised Bruce was staring at her.

'What is it?' she asked nervously. Did she have pancake on her face?

'I'm just curious as to why you want a gamma laser,' he said. His voice was gentle, but Penny noticed an underlying tone that seemed anxious. She realised that he probably wouldn't like the thought of any gamma being on board. He knew the danger it posed.

'I – uh – just had an idea. I don't know if it will work or anything, but you said you wanted to try relaxants, so we'll do that first. If that doesn't pan out, then…I'll run my idea by you?' She didn't want to tell him her idea yet, just in case she thought of some reason that it wouldn't work and got his hopes up. Or that he would just hate it.

He nodded. 'Alright.'

She smiled. 'Don't worry. I'll undoubtedly need your help. You _are_ the physicist, after all.'

He smiled, his tension leaving him. 'That I am, biologist. So.' He glanced at her pancakes, which she'd nearly finished. 'You about ready to begin?'

She smiled. 'Oh, absolutely. Where shall we start?'

* * *

**A while later:**

Several hours later, Penny and Bruce had gone through at least twenty variations of a relaxant similar to a plant that had originally been promising for Bruce a few years earlier. It was called Tetrodotoxin B. Somehow, SHIELD had a small supply of the plant on board, and they had been able to create tinctures of different strength, mixing them with different relaxants, tension-relievers and previously disregarded ideas in the hopes that something would work. Each time they tried a new one, Penny would add a drop to a sample of Bruce's blood, and each and every time…

Failure.

Every time she added it, no matter how promising it seemed, after a few delayed moments – even if the mutation completely disappeared – it would return in strength. They'd broken at least seven microscope lenses that way, before learning that they shouldn't have the lenses quite so close.

They were on their twenty-second trial that day, and Penny was getting frustrated. She had a tension headache, which she was pretty sure stemmed from back pain, because her back was _killing _her. Every now and then, she'd rub at her shoulders, trying to relieve the tension, but it always came back.

In between trials, and while waiting for the tinctures to mix, Bruce would work on his research for the Tesseract, tinkering away at some kind of gamma radiation tracer that he'd concocted. The ones that SHIELD had were too small to find the Tesseract, so he was constructing a bigger one.

In the corner sat a gamma laser – the one that Penny had asked Steve to inquire about. Two hours after asking, when coming back from a break, Penny and Bruce had found it sitting there, and while he'd eyed it suspiciously, the physicist didn't bring it up.

As Penny set up her twenty-second syringe for that day, she couldn't help but feel it was hopeless. She was angry at herself, for not being able to help, and angry at SHIELD for having brought her in on this. She was obviously way out of her depth. She was a biologist, not a physicist. She specialised in traumatised animals and the connection between animals and humans.

Penny remembered how she'd been asked to work for SHIELD, just three days earlier. It had been after leaving her lab – in which she'd been doing private research concerning the behaviour of distressed animals, the similarities in the hormones produced in times of stress in humans, and a possible cure for the common cold. She'd been getting nowhere. That had been when a SHIELD agent had approached her, requesting she follow them in a nondescript vehicle.

It had taken some convincing, considering that she knew essentially _nothing _about the research she'd be doing, or the organisation. However, even though she thought she was out of her depth – she had to remind herself that it was worth it. She was working with a genius, trying to help him, trying to help the world.

Getting to know him.

Penny added a drop of the solution to yet another sample of Bruce's blood and crossed her fingers. This one was a mixture of everything that had looked the most promising – a last ditch effort before Bruce started truly working on locating the Tesseract, and Penny was left to theorise for herself.

She counted in her head. _1…2…3…4…5…6…_

By seven, the solution had cleared the mutation away from Bruce's blood, and she held her breath. _8…9…10…11…_

At twelve, the blood expanded, and the green mutation sprung forth with a vengeance.

Penny let out a groan and let her head drop onto the table with a defeated sigh. _How on earth will we ever find a cure? _she asked herself.

'You think this is bad,' came Bruce's voice from beside her. 'Try having this every day for eight years.'

_Of course. Idiot. Stop being selfish. He's been through much more defeat than this._

Penny turned her head to look at him and apologise, but found him smiling. Her apology died on her lips and she returned his smile tiredly. 'I can only imagine,' she said quietly and straightened, sitting back up.

She stretched her shoulders back, wincing as she heard multiple clicks and cracks emanate from between her shoulder blades. Bruce sent her a startled look and she shrugged.

'I've got a sore back. I've had it for years, since I was a teenager. Guess it comes from too many hours spent hunching over microscopes,' she said with a grin. 'I've tried everything – stretches, physios, chiropractors, massages…You name it; I've probably tried it.'

Bruce laughed. 'That sounds like me. Only, with a problem a little more…extreme. The Other Guy isn't exactly a back ache. It's a shame though. I'm pretty good at back rubs,' he said easily. 'At least…I _used _to be.'

Penny flushed and looked away, trying not to imagine his hands on her back. Bruce realised what he'd said and coughed.

'I – ah – mean, that perhaps it would be best if – '

'Do you want some more tea?' Penny cut across him, clutching her thermos hastily. They'd finished it several hours ago, and she saw an opportunity to stop the conversation in its tracks, before it got too awkward.

Bruce looked mildly relieved and nodded. 'That sounds like a good idea,' he agreed, and then paused. 'Maybe when you get back, you can tell me your idea from this morning?' he suggested, and Penny nodded slowly. Was she ready to tell him her idea? She supposed it didn't matter. They didn't have very much longer left before the other Avengers got there.

Penny took her thermos, and when she returned, found Bruce staring strangely at the gamma laser. She placed the now full thermos on a bench top and was about to pour it when Bruce turned to her, his face ashen.

'Dr Masters, _why_ doyou want a gamma laser?' he inquired, his voice deathly quiet. Penny felt a flicker of fear creep up her spine that had nothing to do with Bruce's condition and everything to do with his good opinion of her. She didn't want to lose it.

Hesitantly, she looked into his dark eyes, which were now filled with distrust. She _hated _that they looked at her so mistrustfully. Penny pushed her glasses up her nose and held her hands up as a peace-offering. 'Please, let me explain before you jump to any conclusions. It was just an idea that I had and – '

'Let you explain how you intend to try and use gamma radiation on me? To try and do – what? – I have no idea, but that's what you want to do, isn't it?' Bruce pulled off his glasses, and stared at her, his expression stony. Penny shook her head fervently as he took a few steps forward. 'You want to make me even worse, is that it? Make it so the Other Guy takes over completely, no more changes? You'd create that kind of a monster? SHIELD would ask that of you? I would _kill _you!'

For the first time since she'd met him – aside from when he shouted at Romanoff – Bruce rose his voice, and Penny heard the panic in it. He was worried that she'd been lying to him, that she was just some other scientist who wanted to use him as a weapon.

'Please, just let me explain. I don't want to use it to make you worse, I honestly want to help you, Bruce.' What had made his demeanour change in the few minutes she'd been gone?

He glared at her, and Penny gulped. 'I suggest you think very carefully about what you say to me right now,' he warned, and Penny saw his heart rate jump on the monitor. All day, it had been steady, but now it was close to 170bpm.

She took a few steps back. 'I'm not trying to make you anxious, or suspicious, Dr Banner. I had this idea…that…' she struggled for words. 'You know how when you get burnt, you blister? But at the same time, heat can be used to cauterise a wound. I was thinking that perhaps…your mutation is like a blister. Perhaps gamma radiation could be used to…for want of a better word, _burn _the mutation out of you. But not really burn. Do you…understand?' she asked hesitantly, hoping and praying that he would.

He stared at her suspiciously. 'You want to dose me up with gamma radiation…in the hopes that it somehow _eradicates _my current mutation? Dr Masters, I don't see how that could work. The risks alone…It could make me worse. _Much_ worse. Not to mention that it would undoubtedly spark an incident.'

Penny nodded. 'I just want to test it first. Set up a few vials of blood in front of the laser and try it. We don't have to do it if you don't want, but…it was something you hadn't tried yet. It was just an idea, Dr Banner, _please_ believe me.'

He stared at her, hard, and after a few long moments, walked up to her, until he was less than half a metre away. Penny couldn't step back any further, as her back was already up against one of the tables. Bruce put an arm on either side of her, effectively trapping her against the table, and he stared into her eyes, searching for some kind of treachery. In his eyes, she saw his emotions swirling. He wanted to trust her, she could tell. Penny did her best to keep her breathing calm, but could feel her own panic creeping in. 'Don't…' she said softly, and saw Bruce's face soften.

He let go of the table and took a step back. The air seemed to rush in to fill the vacuum he left as he pulled away. Penny would have been lying if she said that she regretted his sudden withdrawal. They'd been _so _close.

'Sorry,' he muttered, and retreated to the other side of the room. 'It might be a good idea if you stay over there for a moment,' he suggested quietly, and Penny nodded weakly, leaning on a stool for support. Her legs felt shaky. The thrill of having him close was wearing off. That had been too close for comfort.

She glanced over at Bruce and saw him with his eyes closed, breathing deeply. Eventually, she saw his heart monitor slow until it was back to around 110bpm, though her own heart beat was still erratic, at 150bpm. She tried to take some calming breaths herself, and found that after a few moments, she saw that it had worked. Ish.

'Alright,' came Bruce's soft voice from the other side of the room. 'I'll try.'

Penny felt her heart soar. He trusted her! She nodded, and wrapped her arms around her middle, trying to rid herself of the shaken feeling that she was experiencing. Evidently Bruce had been struggling to control the Other Guy. However, Penny suspected it was due to Bruce's own anger, rather than the curiosity of the Other Guy. The thought cowed her, and she fiddled with the end of her hair before she opened her mouth to speak.

'I…It might not work though, so don't be…Don't get your hopes up,' she said, and he nodded. 'And we don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with, either,' she added quickly. Another nod.

Slowly, he walked back over to her, and took a seat on a stool. 'I take it you'll be needing another blood sample, then?' Now it was her turn to nod. She started setting up a new syringe, but found that her hands were shaking. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, willing herself not to cry.

_Grow up, you big baby! He would never hurt you._

_ Would he?_

Penny jumped when she felt a warm hand cover her own, and looked up to find Bruce taking the syringe from her hands. 'Here,' he said. 'Let me.'

Penny just nodded and relinquished the task to the physicist. As he drew some more blood, Penny decided it was _definitely _time for some tea, and she poured herself some into the lid, and took a sip, revelling in the soothing feel of the hot tea running down her throat.

'I'm sorry, Penny.'

She looked up at him, saw that he'd finished and was just watching her. For how long, she didn't know. He offered her the syringe, and she started divvying it up into small test tubes. It wasn't fair. He shouldn't have to apologise. It wasn't his fault he was suspicious. It was from years of being chased and hunted for the very reason he'd accused her of: wanting to turn him into a weapon. She couldn't help it. A tear dropped down from her face, and fell into one of the tubes, mingling with his blood. She swore quietly, and glanced around, searching for a place to put it, but her tears blurred her vision.

'Oh God. Penny, I'm so sorry. I overreacted. I didn't mean to scare you,' Bruce apologised, and he took the tube and the syringe from her hand, placing them both on a stand. Penny shook her head, but her explanation was cut off as he pulled her into a tight hug. She would have yelped in surprise, but as her mouth was pressed against his shoulder, she settled for inhaling sharply. He smelled of musk, soap, and bergamot. Penny couldn't help it. She smiled.

His arms felt warm and supporting around her, and she felt him take a deep breath before she put her arms cautiously around him, resting them gently on his back.

As quickly as he'd hugged her, Bruce let go, and took several steps away. Penny noted that his heartbeat had spiked, and she walked to the other side of the room, wiping tears from her eyes. When she turned around, Bruce had his eyes closed again, and was taking deep breaths.

'Bruce, I – '

'Dr Masters, please forgive me. I just…needed you to know I wasn't angry with you,' he explained, and looked at her, his eyes calm.

Before she could respond, she saw his gaze travel from her to the glass window looking into the hall, and then harden. Penny turned to see what he was staring at, and let out a soft gasp.

Approaching from the other end of the hall, with a company of at least ten guards, was a man, dressed in black, green, and gold leather armour. He had shoulder-length raven black hair, and pale, angular features. Penny knew instantly who he was, from the file she'd read.

_Loki._

As they walked past, the alien god turned to them, and his striking face broke into a chilling grin. At first, Penny thought he was staring at her, but then, as he continued walking, she realised that he was smiling at Bruce. It was only just before he left the room that Loki's gaze fell on her, and he smirked, before disappearing out of sight with the troop of agents.

Penny turned back to Bruce, who was gazing after the alien, his expression clouded. He and Penny sent each other worried glances, and for a moment, forgot about the events that had occurred only moments earlier.

After a while, Penny spoke, and found her voice hoarse. 'I…guess the Avengers are here,' she said softly.

**AN: ****So. Hoped you all enjoyed this one. Loki's finally on board. Oooooh. Things will start jazzing up a bit now, I reckon. So…I guess you'll just have to stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


	8. Chapter 7: The Rest Of The Team

**AN: ****So. Here's when things start shaking up. Hope you're all still enjoying the story – it means a lot to me when you review, so please don't stop! **

**Also, spoiler: tiny bit of development in the Bruce/Penny relationship area. Although in hindsight, not a huuuuuge amount of interaction. But the fluff should make up for it, yeah?**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

**7. The Rest Of The Team**

A while later, and Penny was setting up the gamma laser in a smaller lab. Bruce had started working on the Tesseract in their original lab, since it was specially prepped for him to run scans and look for the box. It was weird, working on the cure without him there, but Penny was glad she had a moment to herself.

Soon after Loki had arrived, Penny learnt that he was being kept in the Panic Room, and Bruce had been called away to the bridge, in order to discuss the alien and whatever plans SHIELD had next.

Penny discovered that she could access a live feed of the Panic Room footage, and was listening to what Loki was saying in the background.

After Loki had walked passed them, Bruce and Penny had fallen into an uneasy silence, both thinking their own thoughts, not thinking about the near-incident or the hug that happened prior to Loki's arrival. Penny didn't know what Bruce had been thinking about, but she'd been contemplating the ratios and details of the gamma testing she wanted to do. While she was a biologist first, and physicist second, Penny thought she had a good handle on what it was that she had to accomplish. If she were able to concentrate the radiation burst on a low scale, then perhaps she could essentially _burn _the mutation from Bruce's cells. But first she had to test her theory.

She could hear the Avengers talking in the background, on the bridge. Apparently, some unexpected persons had shown up, and now the group consisted of Agent Romanoff, Steve, Bruce, the Asgardian Thor, and genius Tony Stark, the last two of which had appeared unannounced, but had been welcomed with semi-open arms.

Penny set up one of the small vials of Bruce's blood and had a flashback to the lab, when he'd taken the syringe from her, and then hugged her. It had been totally unexpected. She still remembered what it felt like to have his arms wrapped around her. She smiled slightly, and then sobered, focussing her attentions on lining up the laser with the vial exactly, so that when it moved across, it wouldn't miss. Once she was done, she left the radiation chamber, and took refuge on the other side of a glass panel that was meant to protect her from any excess radiation.

She tapped in a few numbers on the computer screen, and then set the gamma beam to low. Penny pulled down her goggles, and crossed her fingers as she tapped on the button that started the beam moving, sliding across slowly until it hit the vial. Seconds later, the beam shut off, and she looked at the camera that gave her a close up view of the blood. She waited for thirty seconds, just in case the vial exploded if the blood had a bad reaction.

She waited a further minute. And then another, just to be sure.

Hesitantly, she walked over to the vial, and picked it up, staring at it intently before taking it over to the microscope she'd set up.

Holding her breath, Penny released a few drops of the gamma-infused blood onto a slide and then peered through the ocular lens.

She gave a small gasp of delight.

All mutation had disappeared. Nothing was left. No sign of the green mutation that caused Bruce to change into the Hulk, whatsoever. Penny grinned to herself, and picked up the vial containing the blood. She could have bounced for joy.

Just then, she glanced up at the live video feed of Loki, and saw him conversing with Fury.

_'It's an impressive cage,' _the Asgardian said haughtily. _'Not built, I think, for me.'_

_ 'Built for something a lot stronger than you,' _Fury replied, and Penny tensed. They were talking about Bruce.

_'Oh, I've __**heard**_,' Loki said, looking directly up at the camera – directly at _her, _it felt like. Penny shivered. Just how much did this man know?

_ 'The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?'_

Penny glared at the screen, despite the fact that Loki was unable to see her. She knew in that moment that she hated him. She had never hated anyone so much as she hated Loki of Asgard in that second.

_It's because he's threatening Earth, _she told herself. _Not because he's taunting Bruce._

She did a quick search for Bruce's whereabouts, making sure he was still in the lab. Apparently he'd been called away earlier to discuss Loki. The computer told Penny he was currently in their lab, and she took a deep breath. She had a cure. She could help him.

She _had_ to tell him. Now.

They'd probably wait another half-an-hour or so, just to make sure, but…what if they could cure him? What if Penny could cure Bruce _tonight? _

The thought made Penny increase her pace as she made her way to the bridge, her grin spreading from ear to ear.

* * *

Bruce was looking intently at the screen in front of him, silently adjusting different levels on a scanner. It was primed to pick up any unusual traces of gamma radiation that matched those coming from the sceptre Loki had brought with him, but so far, he hadn't had much luck.

He thought about what Loki had said: "_The mindless beast."_

The Asgardian was right.

Just look at what had happened. Every time he got close to someone, they ended up getting hurt. In the two short days he'd been aboard the Helicarrier, Bruce had almost had an incident – _twice. _Once, when he fractured Penny's arm, the other when she'd mentioned her theory for curing him.

It had been hard for him to keep control then, a lot harder than he'd let on. He'd even raised his _voice _at her.

_Idiot. She probably doesn't want to help you anymore._

And then he'd _hugged _her, for God knows what reason. He needed her to know that he wasn't upset with her…that _hadn't _been angry with her. It wasn't her fault if SHIELD had tasked her with the job of making more monsters like him, although now he knew that wasn't true. He'd scared her – again – but he saw the truth in her eyes when she told him that she just wanted to cure him.

Across the other side of the room, Tony Stark was looking at various monitors, altering and solving algorithms detailing to the tracking of the Tesseract.

'The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract,' Bruce observed. 'But it's gonna take weeks to process,' he added grudgingly, squinting at the screen in front of him.

'If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops,' Stark suggested, and Bruce laughed.

'All I packed was a tooth brush.'

Tony smiled. 'You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd love it. It's candy land.'

Bruce shook his head, staring at the sceptre. 'Thanks, but the last time I was in New York, I kind of broke...Harlem.'

'Well, I promise a stress free environment,' Tony said, walking over to him. 'No tension. No surprises.'

Bruce felt a sharp stinging zap on his side, and he jumped. '_Ow_!' he said with disbelieving smile, and frowned at Tony, who stared at him strangely.

'_Hey_!' snapped two voices at once. Bruce looked up to see Captain Rogers and Penny walk in. Penny was scowling at Stark, and Bruce almost smiled.

'It's alright, Penny. Mr Stark was just…experimenting,' Bruce said coolly.

'Nothing?' Stark inquired, and Rogers glared at him.

'Are you nuts?' the soldier inquired.

Tony shrugged. 'Jury's out,' and then squinted at Bruce. 'You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?'

'Is everything a joke to you?' Steve growled, and Penny put down a tablet in front of her, still glaring at Tony.

'Funny things are,' Tony shrugged, and Penny made a small sound of disgust.

'Dr Banner's condition is _not_ a joke,' she sputtered, sending the billionaire a death glare.

'And neither is threatening the safety of everyone on this ship,' Steve growled. 'No offense, Doctor,' he sent Bruce an apologetic look.

Bruce shrugged. 'No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things.'

Tony rolled his eyes. 'You're tiptoeing, Big Man. You need to strut.'

The smile on Penny's face faded as she turned to Bruce, her eyes now wide.

But then the colossal grin she gave Bruce totally disarmed him.

_That smile…what's got her so happy?_

She practically ran over to him, and grabbed his arm. He almost flinched at the contact, but didn't feel any stirring in the Other Guy. He'd been strangely quiet since she'd mentioned the gamma radiation experiment.

'Bruce!' she exclaimed. 'I did it.'

He froze. 'You did _what_?' he asked slowly, not daring to hope.

'Yes, did what?' Stark inquired, waltzing over, packet of dried blueberries in hand. Penny squeaked and spun to face the genius billionaire. 'And who _are_ you, exactly, Grumpy?' he frowned at her.

Bruce frowned at Stark. 'I'm Dr Penny Masters,' she said evenly.

Tony tilted his head. 'And why is he "_Bruce?"' _he inquired, ignoring her introduction, and pointing at Banner. Bruce felt his cheeks warm, and saw that Penny's had gone crimson.

'Uh, Dr Masters is my assistant. Of sorts,' Bruce explained.

Stark nodded his head, looking at Penny curiously. 'Uh-_huh_. What kind of sorts?'

Penny smiled uncertainly. 'I'm here to help Dr Banner… with… whatever he needs…?' It sounded more like a question than an answer, to Bruce, but he nodded anyway.

Stark raised an eyebrow. '_Anything? _Like, as in, _anything _anything? I thought you couldn't do _that_ sort of stuff,' his gaze flickered to Bruce before going back to Penny.

_What? No! _Bruce's mind cried, catching the other man's meaning. He didn't have to look at Penny to know that she was as red as a tomato.

Steve interrupted. 'Mr Stark, you're distracting from what Miss Penny wants to say.'

'_Miss _Penny_?' _Tony inquired. 'Hey Grandpa, the 1920's want their lingo back.'

Steve's expression was stony. 'Well I'd be _more _than happy to oblige them. But unfortunately, that isn't an option for me.'

'Um, _no,' _Penny said, frowning at the soldier and the genius. 'I just came to tell Bruce – '

Stark snatched the tablet from the table and started scanning through it. 'Gamma radiation?' he inquired. 'But…_not_ from the Tesseract. These are readings from human blood.' He paused. 'Hold on. This is the _eradication _of gamma from blood cells. By using gamma as some kind of…cauteriser?' He looked between the two of them. 'Whose idea was this?'

Penny lifted a finger hesitantly. 'Mine.'

'Well, it's completely gone, if that's what you were hoping for,' he said, handing the tablet to Penny, but Bruce intercepted it, snatching it away.

'What?' Bruce gasped, and looked over the readings. Penny beamed at him.

'I _did _it, Bruce! Well. _We_ did it. Couldn't have done it without you, _obviously,' _she tucked a stray wisp of hair behind her ear, and Bruce fought the overwhelming urge to do it for her.

_She'd done it. _

Stark glanced between the two of them. 'Do you two need a moment, or something?' he asked, but Bruce ignored him, just smiling at Penny.

'You did it,' he said softly, and saw her smile grow wider.

'Bruce…ah – I mean _Dr Banner_ – um…' Penny glanced to Stark and Steve, and then back to him. 'I could do it…_tonight. _Like, right now. I already adjusted the algorithms, but if you wanted to go over it…'

Something seemed to click for Tony. 'You're making a _cure _for him?' Stark exclaimed, referring to Bruce. Steve's eyes widened, and Penny nodded silently in confirmation. 'I thought that was impossible?' Tony quizzed.

'Not as impossible as we thought, apparently,' Bruce said, still smiling at Penny. She had found a cure. Words couldn't describe how happy he was. Or how indebted he felt.

'Well, it's totally understandable that you didn't want to use gamma radiation, Doctor,' Penny said kindly. 'I wouldn't have wanted to either, if it happened to me.'

Tony rose an eyebrow. 'You're _sure _you two don't want a moment alone?'

Bruce rolled his eyes. 'No, Mr Stark. We're fine. Just give me a few moments, please? Considering that after eight years, we might finally have found a cure for my condition.'

Stark shrugged, and walked over to the sceptre. 'You two have been working together for eight years?' he asked, and Penny shook her head.

'No, actually. More like two days.'

Stark grinned. 'You figured out how to cure Shrek over here in two days?'

Penny nodded hesitantly, as if not sure where Tony was going with this.

'Hey, once this is all over, if you're in need of a job, come to Stark Industries. There's _definitely_ a place for you,' he smiled boyishly. Penny looked flustered.

'Uh – _thank you_, Mr Stark, but I – '

'Tony, please,' he smirked, popping a blueberry in his mouth.

Penny nodded blankly. 'Right.' She turned to Bruce. 'I just need a few things, and…I mean…if you _wanted _to…we can do this tonight.'

Bruce thought about it. They were in the middle of a global catastrophe, and there was currently on board, the alien who meant to wage war with Earth.

But Bruce had been searching for _so long._

After another long pause, he nodded, and Penny beamed.

'Great!' she exclaimed. 'I'll just go set up things properly in the lab, and if you want to check over the algorithms – although I _think _they're okay – bring them to me once you're done?'

Bruce nodded once more, and watched as Penny practically skipped out of the room. She was so goddamn happy about having found a cure. Not to say that Bruce wasn't either. He could barely process the information.

He was going to be _cured. _

'She's cute,' Stark observed, after she'd gone, and Bruce smiled, not thinking properly.

'Yeah. She is,' he said before he could stop himself. Rogers sent him a sharp look.

'_Oh?' _Stark inquired, and Bruce felt his cheeks warm.

'I didn't mean – '

'Hey, I can keep a secret, Dr Banner,' he said with a knowing smirk. 'I won't tell anybody. Neither will Capsicle over there, am I right?' Steve nodded slowly, and Bruce stared at Tony, not trusting himself to speak.

After a moment, Steve frowned at Tony, as if remembering why he had been annoyed at him in the first place, before Penny delivered her news.

'Mr Stark,' Rogers said. 'You need to focus on the problem.'

* * *

Twenty minutes later, and Bruce had witnessed more than a few fights between the two Avengers. He was now feeling less happy about his cure, and more anxious about what would happen if he spent any more time in the two men's company. Although Tony had brought up a good point, about Fury, and the secrets he was keeping, Bruce didn't want to get his hands dirty. He just wanted to find the Tesseract for them and then leave. Penny had found a cure for him, and he didn't see any point in waiting around. If he was cured _now, _then the risk of the Other Guy destroying the Helicarrier while they tried to save the world disappeared.

Eventually, Steve gave up trying to reason with Stark, but Bruce saw that the Captain now had his own suspicions about Fury. Steve left, and Tony rolled his eyes.

'That's the guy my dad never shut up about? Wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice,' Tony grumbled.

Bruce shrugged. 'The guy's not wrong about Loki. He _does_ have the jump on us.'

Stark shook his head. 'What he's _got_ is an ACME dynamite kit. It's gonna blow up in his face, and I'm gonna be there when it does.'

Bruce fiddled with the levels of a scanner. 'And I'll read all about it,' he smiled. It's not like he'd be there with them when everything went down.

Tony pulled a face. 'Uh-huh. _Or_ you'll be suiting up like the rest of us. If your cure doesn't pan out.'

Bruce frowned. He didn't want to think about the cure not working. 'Ah…see…I don't get a suit of armour. I'm exposed…like a nerve,' he said bitterly. 'It's a nightmare.'

'You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart.' Tony pointed at the glowing light shining through his shirt. 'This stops it. This little circle of light. It's part of me now, not just armour.' Stark stood so he was on the other side of the monitor, but Bruce tried to ignore him, adjusting something again. 'It's a... terrible privilege.'

Bruce almost laughed. This guy knew nothing. 'But _you_ can control it,' he settled for instead.

Tony shrugged. 'Because I learned how.'

'It's different,' Bruce insisted, but Tony slid the data aside with his finger so that Bruce was forced to look at him.

'_Hey_, I've read all about your "accident." That much gamma exposure _should_ have killed you,' he said seriously.

Bruce shook his head in disbelief. 'So you're saying that the Hulk…the _Other Guy,' _he corrected himself, '…saved my life?' While he'd said as much to Penny the other day, coming from someone else, it just seemed ludicrous. 'That's nice,' he said with a tight smile. 'It's a _nice_ sentiment. Saved it for what?' he asked.

Tony paused. 'I guess we'll find out,' he said cryptically, and walked back over to his computer.

Bruce frowned. 'You might not like that.'

The other man shrugged. '_You_ just might.'

_No. _Bruce wouldn't let that happen. He couldn't let himself lose control. He'd managed to get used to Penny, and he could do this one task – find the Tesseract, without letting the others get to him. _He __**would**__ stay in control._

'You're gonna have to excuse me,' Bruce announced eventually. 'I…need to talk to Director Fury about my cure.'

He left the lab, not waiting for a response, leaving Tony by himself.

* * *

'So I can go ahead?' Penny asked Fury, her eyes wide.

Against all odds, she'd managed to track him down to ask him about the cure. Well. She'd found him on the bridge.

'Absolutely, Dr Masters. Your job was to find a cure, and you've done so. Applying it now will ensure the safety of this ship from any slip up that might befall Dr Banner, so… You've got the clear.'

'Got the clear for what?'

Penny spun to see Bruce enter the room, his purple shirt rolled up at the sleeves, glasses on as he looked up from the portable mini-computer in his hands.

'I hear Dr Masters has concocted a cure. She says it works. I was just giving her the all clear to use it now, unless you need to work some more on the Tesseract?'

Banner shook his head. 'We've got the spectrometers running. If anything comes up, you'll know about its whereabouts instantly.'

Penny smiled. They were actually going to do this.

'Well, then I don't see why not. Just make sure it _definitely _works, Dr Masters,' Fury warned, sending her a stern look through his one good eye. She nodded and smiled.

'It's been almost an hour. If anything were going wrong, it should have happened already.'

Bruce smiled at her. Fury nodded. 'Excellent. Well. Do you need anything? Do you need some agents on hand?'

Penny thought for a second and then shook her head. 'No. It's probably best if it's just the two of us. That way, if the radiation escapes, it limits who'll be exposed.'

Bruce frowned. 'Penny, I'm pretty sure I can handle a little gamma – it's not like I'm running low on it… But will _you_ be alright?'

She smiled, and waved her hand airily. It was no big deal. 'Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Let's just focus on getting you cured.'

'If that's all you need?' Fury inquired, and Penny nodded. 'I'll see you in a few hours, then Dr Banner. Hopefully, Hulk free.'

Bruce nodded silently, and the two doctors left the bridge, making their way to Penny's smaller lab.

As she was walking, she slid Bruce a sideways glance. He was staring at her. She blushed.

'You're amazing, did you know that?' he asked, and Penny thought she might die of happiness. Coming from a genius physicist, she didn't think there was a higher compliment.

'Thank you, so much,' he continued.

'Don't thank me yet. Thank me after it works,' she warned. 'I don't mean to be a party-pooper, but it's mostly theoretical until we get you in the chair, so to speak.'

Bruce smiled at her. 'What?' she asked.

'You said "party-pooper",' he said with a boyish grin. Penny felt her ears go pink.

'And?' she inquired, feigning aloofness.

'_And…_It wasn't a word I would have picked you for using.'

'Well, Dr Banner,' Penny smiled. '…We're all full of surprises,' she mused.

'That we are. How's your wrist, by the way?' he asked, and she shrugged.

'It doesn't hurt, if that's what you're asking. I think it'll all be good in a couple more days' time.'

'I'm so – '

Penny glared at him. 'If you apologise to me, Dr Banner, I'm going to take my cure and leave. You have nothing to apologise for.'

He tilted his head as they came to a standstill outside Penny's lab. 'I don't understand how you can be so forgiving.'

She rolled her eyes. 'Because there's _nothing to forgive. _The Other Guy just wasn't used to me, that's all. And you seem to be fine now. I mean, you _hugged _me, earlier.'

Bruce went still. 'Yeah, uh, about that…I just needed you to know I wasn't angry with you. I really wasn't. My anger was directed at SHIELD. For putting me in this position. I didn't mean to scare you. _Again. _It's just that you were there, and I almost slipped up for a second…_'_

Penny shook her head, as they entered the room. She gestured for him to take a seat on a large, grey chair with straps. 'You didn't scare me, Bruce,' she insisted. 'Maybe a tiny bit, but only because I didn't want your opinion of me ruined. I was crying because…well. It's just so unfair. That you have to feel this way.'

'Feel what way?' he asked, and Penny stared at him.

'_Exactly_. What way? How often do you have to push down your emotions, Bruce? It's not fair. You don't deserve this. It must be hard,' she said mournfully. Bruce hesitantly sat down in the chair, and settled. Penny could tell he was uncomfortable, and he kept eyeing the straps nervously.

'I don't want to use the straps,' she said quickly. 'I don't think you'll need them – '

'It's okay, Penny. You can use them. I trust you,' Bruce said softly.

Penny inhaled sharply, and struggled for words. 'You…don't have to say that, just because – '

He reached out and took her hand, holding it gently. 'I'm not just saying it, Dr Masters,' he said sincerely, and Penny made the mistake of staring into his eyes. They captured her, and she felt like she was slipping, stumbling, _falling._

_ Falling for him?_

Penny shook away the thought, pulling her hand from his grasp. It wasn't important now. What mattered was Bruce's cure. She pulled out a small tablet and glanced down at the algorithms she'd gotten Bruce to double check, after she'd triple checked them herself. 'Are these alright?' she asked softly, and he nodded. 'If you really don't mind…I might strap you in. Just to hold you in place, so you don't move out of the path of the beam?' she inquired, and he nodded once more.

She carefully did up the straps on his ankles first, making sure they were firm, but still quite loose. She didn't want to cause him any discomfort.

Then she did his wrists, fumbling slightly when her cast made it hard. Bruce's free hand guided hers along, helping her buckle the strap, and she felt her cheeks flame. Before he let go, he stroked her thumb gently. 'It'll be okay,' he said calmly, and Penny nodded wordlessly. How did he manage to sound so confident?

Then she did the strap across his chest, trying not to focus on his broad shoulders, or the way she could feel the lean muscle beneath her fingers as she did up the strap. He might not have been bulging like Thor and Captain Rogers, but Penny suspected that underneath his shirt, Bruce was more than adequately fit.

She cleared her throat and moved to the one that strapped his forehead in place. His dark, curling hair was getting in the way, so she brushed it aside gently, the entire time, feeling his eyes on her.

She was really going to have to do _something_ about this foolish attraction she felt towards Dr Banner.

And what she _did_, moments later when she finished strapping him in, was lean down and kiss him on the cheek.

She felt him tense beneath her, and she quickly retreated to the other side of the room. But not before she saw Bruce's eyes flash warmly.

_Uh, okay. __**Not**__ what you'd been planning on doing,_ she thought nervously.

'It was for good luck,' she explained hastily. She saw him nod his head – or nod it as much as he could with it strapped in – and smile wryly. The smile sent tiny birds flapping happily in her stomach – not that she wasn't already nervous – and she gulped under his stare, before pulling down a pair of goggles over her glasses.

'Do I get to call you Six Eyes now?' he inquired softly, and Penny narrowed her eyes playfully.

'Dr Banner, I'm dealing with very sensitive gamma radiation equipment. Distracting me is only going to end badly.'

'Am I distracting you?' he asked playfully, but she saw a nervousness behind his eyes. She sobered instantly.

'A little. But don't worry. I won't let anything bad happen to you,' she promised. He smiled gratefully, and Penny glanced down at the readings. 'Alright. I'm increasing the beam by thirty-seven percent, which is the lowest I can have it in order for it to work, if my earlier experiments were anything to go by.'

'Sounds good to me, Dr Masters. Good luck,' Bruce murmured, and Penny nodded.

'You too.'

She felt a scared hiccup bubbling in her chest. What if it went wrong? What if it didn't work? What if all the hope was for nothing?

_No. It will work. It worked on the blood, it will work now, _she told herself confidently.

Penny sent a silent prayer to as many deities as she could think of. She didn't believe in a God, but she didn't completely dismiss the idea of some kind of higher power.

She took a deep breath, and hovered her finger above the button that would set the beam moving. She almost chickened out, but then looked up to see Bruce smiling at her encouragingly. It gave her the strength to lower her finger.

_Here goes nothing…_

Everything went in slow motion.

As soon as Penny pressed the button that set the gamma laser in motion, she heard a shattering _crack _from her right.

Slowly, the laser inched closer to Bruce, and Penny spun to look for the source of the sound.

Her eyes widened in horror as she saw the vials from earlier – every single one of them – explode, green goo splattering over the microscopes.

It hadn't worked.

Penny screamed as she turned to Bruce, and saw the laser was only about a foot away from his face. '_No!'_

Only one thought on her mind, Penny ran out from behind the safety of the glass and into the radiation chamber. She _had _to stop the laser from hitting Bruce. He'd change. He'd transform into the Other Guy and she didn't know if he would ever change back.

Bruce shouted out a warning as he struggled to move out of the way of the beam: 'No! Penny, stay back!' but it was too late.

Because he was strapped down, he couldn't move out of the way. The chair was fixed to the ground. There was no "off" button. The beam would continue firing until the allotted time was over. The only way Penny could stop it was to absorb it herself.

Penny didn't even think about it. She just ran, putting her body between the laser and Bruce, crying out as she felt the beam hit her back, a thousand hot needles all focussed into one jet of lava-like radiation.

She looked into Bruce's wide brown eyes as everything around her went white.

**AN: ****If you kill me, I can't keep on writing.**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


	9. Chapter 8: Burned

**AN: ****Hey everyone!  
THANKS FOR THE AMAZING REVIEWS!**

**I'm glad you're all enjoying my story so much. I hope you still like where I'm going with it after this, because things change in a big way after this chapter. Just letting you know – this wasn't just a whim that I decided to go with. Well…**_**all**_** ideas start that way, but I've thought about this long and hard, so it's…I just hope you like it.**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

**8. Burned**

'So,' said Natasha, staring at the Asgardian inquisitively. 'Banner...' she deduced. 'That's your play.'

Loki looked at her, frozen. 'What?' he asked, his cruel smile frozen on his lips, fading fast.

Natasha brought a hand to her ear. 'Loki means to unleash the Hulk,' she said to Fury. 'Keep Banner in the lab.'

_'Dr Banner is no longer in the lab. He's with Dr Masters in the radiation chamber,' _Fury informed her.

Natasha frowned. 'I'm on my way. Send Thor as well.' She looked up at the astonished alien. 'Thank you…for your cooperation,' she said with a soft smile, and turned to leave.

* * *

'_No!' _Bruce shouted, and fought against his restraints. Moments later, the gamma beam shut off, and the room was silent. 'Penny? _Penny?!'_

She didn't move.

Bruce felt the Other Guy bellow and he fought to contain him, but control wasn't really his top priority. He needed to help Penny_. _He had to get to her.

The Other Guy spotted the weakness and pushed again. Bruce felt as though his heart were in his throat, and he yanked against his restraints in vain.

Agent Romanoff entered the room, Thor in tow, and her eyes widened at the scene before her. She looked at Bruce, and took a step back. He must look a fright, if her reaction was anything to go by.

'_Help her!' _he growled, and felt the Other Guy slam against his mind with renewed force. 'Untie me!' he snapped, changing his mind. If they didn't untie him soon, the Other Guy would see it as a threat, and then there'd be no stopping him.

'Just stay with me, Dr Banner. You won't be able to help her if you change,' Romanoff said, although her voice wavered, and she walked over to him. Thor picked Penny's lifeless body from the ground and Bruce felt his panic increased tenfold. She wasn't moving.

Natasha pulled out a knife and cut Bruce's hands free, before reaching for his ankles. Bruce fumbled for the straps on his shoulders and forehead, and then pushed Romanoff aside, rushing to Thor.

'Penny? _Penny?'_ he said urgently, and grabbed her shoulder.

She screamed.

Thor almost dropped her, the sound was so loud and unexpected. Luckily, Bruce had his arms out already, and he half-caught her. She cried out, and twisted in his grip, her green eyes wide with fear and pain.

'No!' she shrieked, and tried to pull away from him. '_Don't! Get away!'_

Bruce froze. She was _still_ trying to protect him from the Other Guy.

Bruce ignored her protests, and held on tighter. 'Penny?' he asked, trying to soothe her. 'Penny, just tell me what's wrong? Come on, stay with me.' He was surprised that his voice sounded so calm. He felt the Other Guy thrash, but he focussed. He had to be there. _He_ had to be there for her. The Hulk would help nobody.

'My…_back,' _Penny croaked, and Bruce let go of her middle, shifting his hold to her waist. Thor deftly picked up her legs, and was about to lift her into his arms when she screamed again, clutching at her shoulders. Tears poured down her face, and Bruce's vision swam. The Other Guy was _right_ by the surface now, only a thin veil of control remaining between the monster and the world.

Romanoff was talking frantically into her earpiece. 'We need a med team down here, immediately. Dr Masters has been injured.' She turned to Bruce, her stare cold. 'What happened?' she snapped, and her voice brought him back to reality briefly.

Bruce shook his head. 'I don't know. She stepped in front of the beam to shield me. If it had hit me… I think it would have triggered a spontaneous change. One I don't think that I'd ever have come back from,' he said.

'You need to step away from Dr Masters, Bruce,' Romanoff advised, and he felt the Other Guy roar in protest. He shook his head. He had to help her.

Penny moaned in Bruce's arms, and he smoothed back some of the hair from her face. 'The med team will be here soon,' he soothed, his voice shaking. 'We'll administer an anaesthetic, and – '

'Put me down!' she gasped, and Bruce quickly crouched, setting her on the floor. She instantly rolled so that she was lying on her stomach.

And that's when they saw it.

Penny's back was moving.

It was like something was under her skin, trying to break free.

Romanoff took initiative while Bruce just stared, horrified. He had done this_._

_ I did this._

Natasha neatly slit the back of Penny's lab coat and shirt beneath up the middle, and they could finally see what was happening.

Two dark curves, about as long as a forearm, enhanced her shoulder blades, jutting out. Bruce felt his eyes widen as he realised what they were.

_Wings._

Penny cried out and they moved.

They _grew._

They were about a metre long each, now, and Bruce felt his head spin.

_I did this. I did this to her._

_ It's my fault._

He couldn't control it any more. The Other Guy was _right there. _He had to get out.

'Move out of the way!' he warned, and reared away from her. He pushed past Thor and Romanoff, almost bumping into Steve and Tony as they ran into the lab, both stopping in their tracks, eyes wide. 'Help her,' he breathed, and then ran. He had to get away. Anywhere but there.

What had he done?

* * *

_Fire._

_ Burning fire._

Penny moaned, and felt strong hands lift her, setting her down on a surface that was softer than the floor. Her _back…_

She didn't know what was happening. She heard frantic voices around her, and felt the world tilt. She realised she was being carried on a gurney of some kind.

_Bruce._

_ Is he alright_? her pain-addled brain thought. She cried out as a spasm coursed throughout her back, and she bit her tongue, tasting blood in her mouth.

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder, and heard a familiar voice next to her ear.

'Hang in there, Miss Penny, we're nearly there,' came Steve's voice, and she tried to look at him, but failed. It hurt too much.

'Bruce…' she murmured, just before her world went black.

* * *

**Three hours later:**

Bruce had calmed down.

First, he'd run through the corridors of the Helicarrier until he found an abandoned closet, in which he crouched down, putting his head between his knees as he breathed in and out, panting heavily.

_Just breathe. Breathe. Stay calm. Don't change. Keep control. Think of Penny. Be here for her. _

_ Just… think of her eyes._

An image of her terrified green irises burst into mind, and he groaned in frustration.

_No. Not scared. Calm. Something calm…_

_ When she was drawing me._

After several minutes, Bruce felt calm enough to venture out of the closet. However, when he stepped out, Fury was waiting for him.

Bruce glanced about warily, searching for other agents. There weren't any. 'Fury…'

'Just what the hell happened, Banner?' Fury snapped, and Bruce flinched. He didn't need angry people around him right now. He was anxious enough as it was.

'It turns out her trials didn't work,' Bruce said wearily. 'My blood samples changed just after she turned on the beam, and it was too late to stop it, so she…she stepped in front to absorb the radiation herself.'

Fury frowned. 'She sacrificed herself for you?' he inquired, and Bruce glared at him.

'This would _never_ have happened if you hadn't brought me on board,' the doctor said angrily.

'I'm sorry, Dr Banner, it was my understanding that you actually _wanted _a cure,' Fury snapped.

Bruce scowled at him. 'I would _never_ put someone else's life at risk, just so that I could sleep a bit better at night. Getting rid of the Other Guy isn't worth it.'

'Well, I _did _bring you aboard, Doctor_, _so there's no use crying over it. Now, I have to ask… are you in control?'

Bruce nodded slowly.

_For now…_

'Well, then I suggest you get your ass down to the med bay. No one knows gamma radiation like you do, and it seems you've got a patient,' Fury said brusquely, before turning to leave. 'You were playing with fire, and now you've gotten burned. Clean up your mess, Banner.'

Bruce felt the Other Guy snarl, but he kept his face neutral. 'How is she?'

'Unconscious,' Fury said, before leaving.

Bruce felt a hopelessness boil up inside his chest. The cure hadn't worked, and now Penny was injured, infected, poisoned – he didn't know what.

But he knew he had to get down to the med bay.

* * *

Penny woke slowly.

First, her vision came back. She observed the medical bay, which she had visited just the other day. Then she could hear sounds – a steady heart rate, and murmured conversation in gentle tones. Finally, she felt something soft brushing her shoulder. Which was weird, because it felt like it was her hand… As in the nerves that responded to touch were working both ways, in her shoulder, and in whatever was pressed against her shoulder.

She was lying on her stomach, and was about to sit up when she felt a weight on her back. Was someone resting something on it?

'Penny?' came an anxious voice from beside her, and she turned to see Bruce staring at her worriedly. He had dark circles beneath his eyes, and looked like he'd been awake far longer than he should have been.

'Mmm,' she mumbled into the pillow, and propped herself up on her elbows. 'Can you take whatever's on my back off, please?' she inquired tiredly, and saw his brown eyes widen.

'Uh…Penny…' he started.

'What Brucie here means to say, Penny, is that he can't take anything off your back because you have a newly acquired pair of _wings _attached to it,' came Tony Stark's voice from the other side of the med bay.

_That _certainly got Penny's attention.

_The gamma laser, _she thought, and then she remembered.

The exploding blood vials, the beam, stepping in front of Bruce to save him, then agonising pain.

She tried to sit up, but found that the same something was stopping her, weighing her down. She frowned and looked at Bruce for help. 'What's happening to me?' she whispered, scared.

A pained look passed over Bruce's face as he leant forward. 'It was the gamma beam. You stepped in front of it to protect me, and it hit your back.'

'Are you alright?' Penny asked, and Bruce laughed bitterly, running a hand over his face.

'You're asking if _I'm _alright?' He pulled a large, clear computer screen over, which showed her a live feed of the med bay. 'Penny…I'm fine. But you…'

'That's you,' Stark interrupted, pointing to a large pair of mottled brown wings on the screen, lying on a bed. 'Under there. And here's an x-ray we took.' Next to the live feed was an x-ray, but Penny would never have known it was her. Not with the two large structures attached near her shoulder-blades.

She felt the strangest feeling of detachment overwhelm her. There was no way that the figure on the screen was her. She struggled to sit up, and in the end, Bruce helped her by sliding her legs to the side, until she could turn around.

And that's when she really felt them.

Penny felt the… _wings… _pull at her shoulder, and felt the feathers flutter in places as they curled gently, catching the air. She inhaled sharply, and was overwhelmed by an enormous surge of dizziness.

Bruce put a hand on her arm, hesitantly. 'Are you alright?' he asked, and she shook her head.

_No. Of course I'm not bloody alright._

Penny could hear a high pitched keening sound, and it took her a second to realise that it was coming from her. A flock of tiny birds fluttered their wings nervously in her chest, and she felt a hysterical laughter bubble out of her mouth. _Birds._

'I…I…I…' she couldn't speak. She couldn't form words. Her brain had lost all capacity to function. If she'd thought the shock from the other day was bad, she had another thing coming for her.

Dully, she noted that she was dressed in one of those hospital dress-things that did up at the back. However, she doubted very much that this one was done up, considering the two very large obstacles that were currently taking up residence between her shoulder blades.

'Dr Masters, you're stunning,' Tony remarked. 'You've got a wingspan of at least four metres. Congratulations, Angel. You have the largest wingspan of any feathered creature on the planet.'

Penny focussed enough to glare at him. She felt an anger bubble up inside her and her chest constricted, making her breathe in short, tight bursts. She was angry. _Incredibly _angry, and there was no one around to direct it at other than Tony.

'Tony, I suggest you leave, before Dr Masters takes it upon herself to throw you out a window,' Bruce said softly. 'That is, if _I _don't do it first,' he added. Tony seemed to realise that she was struggling to breathe, and he nodded, walking out the room with a murmured apology.

Penny felt tears well up in her eyes. 'Bruce, I…Bruce, I can't – _Bruce, help.' _Her words were a jumbled mess, a direct link to her thought process, with no filter. The fluttering birds from earlier beat their wings in a frantic staccato as her panic increased, welling up, threatening to consume her. She felt as though she were about to have a panic attack. She'd never had a panic attack before, but she guessed she could always start now.

Warm hands brought her back to reality, and she looked down to see Bruce's hands wrapped around her two small ones, enveloping them in warmth. It was weird. Her entire body felt numb, except for where he touched her.

'Penny, it's alright,' he soothed. 'You're still here. You're going to be okay.'

_How do you manage to keep so calm? _Penny wondered. She needed to know his secret. She opened her mouth to speak, but her words left her, and all she did was make a tiny little _puff_.

_She had __**wings**__ attached to her back._

Wordlessly, Bruce pulled her towards him, sweeping her up in a firm, but gentle hug. She couldn't help the gasping sob that escaped her lips onto his shoulder, and she opened her eyes to see brown feathers enveloping them both, as the wings curled around to form a screen.

_Her wings._

Penny started shaking, and knew that Bruce was stroking her back gently. But she couldn't feel it. He was murmuring soft reassurances. But she couldn't hear them. She felt disconnected, like she was floating.

They stayed like that for a while, until Penny could finally hear Bruce speaking softly over her panicked breaths.

'…Just focus on breathing. In and out. Use your stomach and take deep breaths in through your nose, out through your mouth.'

Penny followed his instructions and slowly, her breathing calmed. She inhaled deeply, drinking in the calming scent of Bruce: tea, books and musk. It didn't make sense that it calmed her, but for some reason, it _did_, so she didn't really care.

After a long while, she pulled back, regaining some composure. 'I…I'm so sorry, Bruce. The cure…I thought it would work.' She needed to focus on something else, anything but the huge wings that were twitching nervously behind her.

Bruce's hands were resting on her upper arms. 'Penny, don't think about that right now. It wasn't your fault. You were just trying to help. This was my fault.'

'But you – But I thought it was a _cure_. I got your hopes up and then it just…failed,' she said sadly. 'It wasn't your fault. It was…I don't know. _Not _your fault, for one,' she said quietly. She noticed that he was very carefully keeping his gaze focussed on her face, and not on either one of the large brown structures that framed it behind her.

'Penny,' he said seriously, and his grip on her arm tightened. 'Idon't care about the cure_.' _His chocolate gaze bored into her. 'I care about _you_.'

Penny felt the birds in her chest freeze their frantic tempo. He cared about her?

'You're a human being, Penny. It was only a cure, and I'm still here without it. _You_ might not have been,' he said with a tilt to his head.

'Well, I _am_ still here…' she said softly.

Bruce looked at her sadly. 'But you're not the same,' he stated, and she found the good humour to shrug.

'I'm just… fluffier, now,' she said with a smile, although she didn't really feel it. Bruce paused for a moment before returning it. It was slow, hesitant, like he didn't want to upset or offend her.

After a while, he spoke. 'That you are…' he agreed. He shifted his gaze from her face to over her left shoulder, and slowly brought up a hand to brush against one of her wings gently.

Penny wasn't expecting the feel of his touch – or she wasn't familiar to having touch receptors on a new part of her body. Either way, she gave a startled gasp and her wings sprung open, one of them knocking a tablet and several tools onto the floor with a loud _smash._

Bruce's eyes widened, and he took a step back, arms raised. 'Sorry, sorry,' he murmured, but he was no longer looking directly at Penny. He was staring at her wings, and she suddenly felt very self-conscious. She tried to pull them back in, but struggled, not fully knowing how to move them yet. It was like when a baby fawn first learnt to walk. Her movements were shaky, and she felt like she'd knock something over any second.

Bruce shook his head in disbelief. 'Stark wasn't wrong…' he mused in awe, still staring. 'Your wingspan… It's huge.'

Penny floundered under his intense stare, and she turned to see that her wings spread out across the entire med bay, several metres in either direction. They were _huge._

'It makes sense,' Bruce continued. 'If they're supposed to actually lift you off the ground, they'd have to be large. And lightweight. How heavy do they feel?' he asked, and Penny could practically see his brain working out how strong they'd have to be, and what their dimensions were. His gaze flickered briefly to her eyes. 'May I?' he inquired, his hand half-stretched out to her.

Penny nodded slowly, wondering what he was about to do. He took a step closer, and ran his hand along the length of one of her wings, properly touching her this time. She shivered under his touch, but the shiver soon turned into something else. She stifled a burst of laughter, which morphed into a muffled giggle. Bruce rose and eyebrow, and Penny smiled nervously.

'It tickles,' she explained, and felt her wings move.

'Sorry,' he apologised. 'I can stop if you want. I just want to have a look at them properly.'

'No, it's fine,' Penny insisted. Bruce continued trailing his hands over her wing, and she ignored the weird fluttering sensation it caused in the pit of her stomach, which had nothing to do with her new wings, and everything to do with his hands. He walked down the length of her wing, and then behind her, gently brushing and smoothing down feathers as he went.

'Hey, I just want to try and lift one. See how heavy it is, alright?' he warned, just as his grip tightened on her wing, as he got to her shoulder. She nodded, and felt a weird, unbalanced feeling, as a slight weight was lifted from her right side.

'Whoa. That's _really_ light. Penny…' His voice from behind her ear was excited. 'Do you trust me?' he inquired, and Penny frowned. _Did she still trust him? _After everything that had happened over the past day?

'Of course,' she said instantly. 'I said I did, and I still do.'

She could almost sense his grin, and squeaked as she felt two warm hands grip her waist and lift her.

'Bruce! What are you doing, I'm too heavy for – '

Penny stopped as Bruce lifted her at least half a metre in the air.

She gasped, and froze. _What the hell?_

'Penny, I'm not even trying. Seriously, your bone density…I wonder if they're hollow now,' he mused, speaking into her back.

She was still frozen mid-air, but Penny's mind whirled.

_I guess it would make sense. Bird's bones are hollow. But I guess that means…_

'Penny, I reckon you could actually _fly _with these,' Bruce said in amazement, finishing her own train of thought. Penny realised that he was still holding her up, his grip on her waist tight.

'Uh, that's great Bruce, but could you – um – let me down now?' she asked hesitantly.

'Oh! Of course,' he assured her, and he gently lowered her, his arms circling her waist completely so as to control her descent. She couldn't ignore that he held on for perhaps a few seconds too long, before hastily withdrawing his hands.

'Uh, sorry about that. I just got carried away,' he apologised, but Penny wasn't exactly sure what he was talking about. Holding her up, or holding onto her waist. 'We need to weigh you,' he said determinedly. 'You can't weigh over 60 pounds, and that's stretching it.'

Penny turned to face him, and completely forgot about her open wings. One of them caught him, while the other knocked the entire contents of one of the shelves onto the floor. Bruce stumbled a few steps, before stopping her wing with his hands, and Penny grimaced at the glass all over the floor.

She brought a hand to her mouth. 'Oh, God. I'm so sorry, are you alright?' she asked hesitantly, and looked over her shoulder to see his face.

He was smiling. 'I'm fine. Let's just… work on folding your wings in first, maybe. Can you do it yourself?' he asked, and Penny frowned. She didn't know if she could.

She tried to pull them in, and gave a frustrated sigh when she found that she couldn't. 'I don't know…it's weird. It's like I can't control them properly yet.'

Bruce laughed. 'Yeah, actually I can imagine. You're like a foal, trying to figure out how to walk.'

'That's what I was thinking,' she smiled. 'Except… I thought a baby deer.'

'Well, little fawn, let me see if I can help you out.'

Penny blushed, and out of her periphery, she saw Bruce move down to the end of her wing.

'I'm going to try and fold it for you. See if you can follow through with the movement. Flex your muscles.' Penny's wing snapped out straighter, and clipped Bruce on the side. '_Ow. _Not yet. Once I've folded.'

'Whoops. Sorry,' Penny blushed once more. She felt Bruce gently fold her wing, and halfway through the motion, she pretended it was like bending her arm, bringing it across her chest, visualising one of the wings from her back in its place.

'Hey! There you go,' Bruce congratulated, and Penny smiled as she felt her wing settle in place. A few seconds later, without Bruce's help, she managed to fold the other one, too.

Penny finally turned to face Bruce, and saw that he was smiling. She couldn't help it. She smiled too.

'Penny…at the risk of stating the obvious…You have _wings,' _he smiled.'I can't believe it. I'm sorry that this happened, but if I'm being honest…' he trailed off and looked at her apologetically.

If she weren't a scientist, Penny suspected she might have been outraged and shocked at the seemingly insensitive comment. She had _wings. _Her life had… changed. And she didn't know if it was entirely for the better…

However, she _was _a scientist, and so Penny couldn't stop the gleeful grin that spread across her features.

She shook her head. 'It's alright. I know what you mean. It's actually…quite amazing.' She realised that she was still only wearing the hospital gown, and that with her wings, it wasn't exactly done up. She blushed, and hoped that Bruce hadn't noticed. Thankfully, she spotted a matching set of SHIELD pants and a shirt, as well as a large, dark blue, faded jumper hanging over a chair. She gestured to it. 'Are these for me?' she asked, and Bruce nodded.

'Sorry about the jumper. I couldn't find anything else around here, and didn't want to poke around your room, so it's one of mine.'

Penny felt a happy spark race down her spine at the thought of wearing something that had belonged to Bruce. She was willing to bet that it smelled like him. Not to mention that it would be way too big, and ipso facto: comfortable.

She grabbed the clothes, and stepped behind a screen on the other side of the room, trying to pull her wings behind her. After a moment of struggling, she gave up, and just allowed them to stick out slightly. It's not like they weren't covered in feathers.

She pulled on the pants, and was about to do the same with the shirt when she realised her problem.

_Wings._

They didn't exactly fit underneath the shirt. She gave a disgruntled sigh, and stood there, shirt in hand, pondering what to do.

'Are you alright?' Bruce asked, and Penny blushed, even though he couldn't see her face.

'Um. Yeah – well, _no, _but I don't think you can help.'

'What's up?' he asked, and stuck his head around the screen. Penny shrieked, and pulled his jumper in front of her chest, covering her black bra, which was still on from earlier.

'_Bruce!' _she cried, and he pulled back immediately, uttering many, many apologies.

'Ah! Penny. _Sorry_. I didn't mean to. I mean…I didn't see anything. I didn't – '

'It's alright, Bruce. I just couldn't figure out how to get my shirt on,' Penny said shakily. She felt embarrassed, but more afraid that he'd think she was… flaunting herself at him. Which she wasn't.

_Definitely not, _she convinced herself stoically.

_ Even if you want to… _The thought came unbidden to mind, and she felt her face deepen in its current shade of red.

He went strangely quiet for a moment before speaking. 'Uh, if you pass me the shirt, I can try and make some adjustments?' he offered, and wordlessly, she passed him the shirt, sticking her hand out from behind the screen. She felt his fingers brush against hers, and she flinched. Not because she didn't like it, but because she _did._

She heard a soft snipping sound of scissors on fabric, and a few moments later, the shirt came sailing over the top of the screen, landing on her head.

'_Hey'_ she growled, but was smiling.

'So sorry,' Bruce said again, and Penny rolled her eyes at thin air, pulling the altered top on. She marvelled at what Bruce had done. Instead of cutting two holes – which would never have fitted her broad wings – he'd cut the shirt completely down the middle to make a v-shaped hole at the top. All she had to do was wrap it around, and somehow tie it at the back.

Taking a step out from behind the screen, one hand holding the back of the top together, she smiled at Bruce, who was very pointedly looking the other way. 'It's alright, Bruce,' she said quietly. 'I'm not offended, or upset. More…embarrassed. Let's just forget it happened, yeah?' she suggested, and he nodded before looking at her properly.

'Oh. Do you want some help with the back?' he offered, taking a step forward as she nodded. Penny turned around, and felt his warm hands brush against the base of her spine as they tied the shirt in a knot. She felt a small shiver run up her spine, and prayed he didn't notice. Briefly, he smoothed the knot out, and then tugged the shirt down slightly. 'Sorry it's not my best work, but it'll have to do until we get someone to make you something properly.'

Penny shrugged, and turned to face him. 'It's good, Bruce. Thank you.' She looked down at the jumper in her hands mournfully, and saw his gaze follow hers. 'But I'm not going to let you cut up your jumper just for me,' she said quickly. She didn't want to ruin it.

He frowned, and pulled a face. 'Don't worry about it. In fact, you might not even need to cut it. It's big enough to fit over them. You're small.'

Penny smiled as she pulled the jumper over her head, but the smile faded as it got caught on her wings. She stood there, her arms sticking up at odd angles, half through the sleeves, and coughed. 'Uh, I'm a little stuck.'

'Here, let me help.' Penny felt his hands pull the jumper down gently, and felt it trap the wings against her back. It wasn't a bad feeling, but it still felt…constricting. 'Huh. I think it suits you more than it does me,' he admitted with a smile.

'Do my wings stick out?' she asked, trying to look over her shoulder. She swiftly pulled off the jumper, tying it around her waist as she felt heat travel throughout her boy in a warm flush.

'Nah. Only at the bottom. And your wings don't rise over your shoulders, so it's alright. You don't look like you've got a weird hunchback,' he smiled. 'Much.'

Penny flicked him on the arm, before remembering herself. And who he was. 'Ah!' she squeaked. 'Sorry. Didn't mean to annoy you or – '

Bruce rolled his eyes. 'Penny. I think you're the only one on board this ship that's actually making an effort to not annoy me. I'm fine. I've got tough skin. Both literally and metaphorically.'

She squinted at him. 'But you've been so careful around me,' she said slowly. 'Like you could change at any moment.'

He grimaced. 'That's just between you and the Other Guy. It's weird.'

'Is that why you shook Steve's hand and not mine, when we first met?' she inquired, and he nodded.

Penny glanced over at a mirror, and saw a slender, pale waif of a girl staring back at her, enveloped in the giant sweater she was wearing. It was more like a dress than a jumper, and came down to mid-thigh. It actually concealed her wings pretty well, if you were looking at her from the front. And it was warm. And smelled of Bruce.

'But, listen, Penny,' Bruce began, and she turned to him. 'I am so… I don't have the ability to express how sorry I am, that this happened to you, because of me. I should have stopped you. I _should_ have known.' His handsome features crinkled in a frown, and Penny took a step forward, putting her hand on his arm.

'No, I should have listened to you earlier,' she insisted. 'You didn't want to do it, and I pushed – '

'Doctor Masters,' a brusque voice snapped, and Penny jumped away from Bruce, only just stopping her wings from springing open in surprise. She let out a sigh of relief. She didn't want to tear Bruce's jumper.

She spun to face Director Fury, who had just walked in, and she smiled uncertainly. What did he want?

She felt Bruce take a step closer to her, until he was by her side. 'What do you want?' he asked softly, voicing her exact thoughts, although Penny could have sworn she heard a warning in his tone.

'I'm simply here to find out how Dr Masters is doing. Have you had a chance to…examine her?' Fury asked, and Penny felt her cheeks redden.

_Come on, Penny, not like that! _She scolded herself and glanced at Bruce to see if he had noticed, but he was staring at Fury icily.

'She only just woke up, Fury,' he began, but the other man held up his hand.

'I don't want to hear excuses, Dr Banner. I told you to clean up your mess. Now,' he crossed his arms. 'Is she going to be alright?' Fury asked, and Bruce glanced her over momentarily, carefully, calculatedly. Slowly, he nodded. It was like she wasn't even in the room.

'I think so. I just have to do some tests to make sure her gamma levels are under control. It wasn't very concentrated, but it was obviously enough to…do _this,' _he gestured towards Penny's back, and she looked away, embarrassed for some reason. Why was she embarrassed? It wasn't like she _intentionally _gave herself wings.

'Well then, I suggest you get a move on, Doctor. After you're done here, I want you back in the main lab. There's something we need to discuss.'

Bruce frowned. 'Fine. Just give me a couple of hours. I can do the tests, make sure Penny's alright, and then get her to rest. Gamma takes a lot out of you. I would know,' he said bitterly, and just like that, his good mood was gone. Penny felt a pang of sadness. Fury had single-handedly ruined both their moods now.

As abruptly as he had entered, Fury left, and Penny let out a long sigh. 'Bruce, please don't feel bad about all this. It was an accident. I knew the risks when I took the job.'

Bruce turned to her, his face now ashen. 'You knew the _risks_? You knew you'd be working with an unstable monster, that you'd not only get injured, but have the entire basis of _you _– your DNA – completely altered? Because I can guarantee you, _that's_ what has happened to you. You've been changed on a molecular level, Penny. No one knows better than me what that feels like, and so please understand that my anger is directed at SHIELD, for ever allowing you to come near me. _I'm_ the one who did this.' He took a deep breath, his eyes swirling with emotion. 'You're saying you _knew_…about all that?' he asked her sceptically, and she shook her head slowly, taking a step towards him imploringly.

'No. I didn't mean that, Bruce, I just meant – '

'Please stop apologising to me, Penny,' he said shortly. 'I don't deserve your apology, and I sure as hell don't deserve your affection.'

Penny froze. 'W-what affection?' she stuttered.

He looked at her, his brown eyes now uncharacteristically cold. 'Penny, I _saw _the heart-monitors. I know that you…' he laughed bitterly, and shook his head. 'I know that _I _felt it too. But this… this relationship… It won't… It could never work.'

Penny felt as though she'd just been stabbed. 'I don't understand – '

'Of course you don't!' he threw his hands up in the air. 'You don't understand. You couldn't _possibly _understand. _We_ would never work, Penny.' He stared at her, and ran a hand through his hair. 'God, I tried to pretend, just _tried_ to pretend that maybe it could. I lied to myself, told myself that I could have one normal relationship – just a _friendship_, mind you – with someone. And even that's ruined. It wasn't too much to ask. Just one normal friendship, that didn't get screwed over by the Other Guy. But then, of course you just had to be…' he looked at her, his expression lost.

Penny felt tears well up in her eyes. For some reason, this conversation was more distressing than discovering her wings. She couldn't believe that he was saying this to her. 'I just had to be what?' she asked softly, not sure she wanted to know the answer

He looked at her sadly. 'You just had to be…_perfect.'_

Penny felt her shoulders drop, and with them, her wings. They brushed the floor, and she struggled not to let tears fall. Any other time, the word would be a compliment, and yet somehow… coming from Bruce's mouth now… It seemed like a tragedy. How could he say that they'd never work, and then follow it up by calling her perfect? It was all too much for Penny. She couldn't handle it.

Shaking her head free of tears, she managed to find her voice. 'D-do you already have a blood sample?' she asked shakily, and Bruce looked at her strangely.

'Uh…yeah. I guess. Why?' he asked cautiously, but Penny was already turning to leave.

'I need to…' _Get out. Get away. Away from you. _'…get some fresh air,' she said thickly, and ran through the doors before he could stop her.

'Penny!' he called out, but she ignored him, running down the hall. She felt lighter now, much faster. Her muscles were still used to moving something much heavier than her, and so consequently, she ran into several walls as she rounded corners, before she started getting the hang of it.

Her wings trailed behind her, half-folded, but Penny didn't have the skill, nor the motivation to try and pull them in. People just gave her a wide birth, although she caught many strange stares as she ran throughout the Helicarrier. She needed to get onto the roof, outside. She needed fresh air.

'Miss Penny, where are you – _Penny?!' _Steve's familiar voice came, as Penny crashed into him for the second time that day. She didn't look up, focussing on her feet as she wiped at the tears that were now streaming freely down her face.

'Penny, what's wrong?' Steve asked, his hand on her shoulder. 'And your wings, they're so much bigge – '

'They're monstrous,' she choked, and tried to push past him. It was all the wings' fault. Bruce wouldn't have spoken to her like that if they didn't exist. If he didn't blame himself.

'Whoa, slow down there, Penny. Hey, calm down. It's alright. They're not monstrous at all. In fact, I think they're quite pretty. They match your hair,' he observed with a smile, and pulled on the end of her plait before realising that his words weren't helping. 'And…You're not really upset because of the _wings_, are you?' he asked with a grimace. Penny shook her head slightly, and he sighed. 'Where are you trying to get to, Penny? I might be able to help.'

'Just…just outside. Upstairs. On the roof. _Anywhere. _Just not in here,' she said softly.

'Well, that I _can _help you with.'

A few minutes later, and they were on the roof of the Helicarrier. Steve had a tight grip on her arm, insisting that he was worried that she might get blown away.

'Penny, you're so much lighter now. I don't know if you'll get caught up in the wind and blown away.'

She smiled slightly. 'Well that's what these are for, aren't they?' She slowly unfolded her wings, and practiced flexing them in and out gently, trying to control them. 'I just needed to get away from Bruce,' she said before she could stop herself. _Damn. It's like I've got no filter anymore._

Steve looked at her, surprised. 'What did he do? Did he upset you?' he asked with a frown, and Penny shook her head.

'He didn't mean to. Well. Actually, he might have done. But it's because he feels guilty,' she insisted. 'He feels responsible for the accident. And I tried to tell him it wasn't his fault, but he just…got all closed off. I thought I was making _progress _with him, Steve.' She shook her head. 'I thought that he was opening up, maybe… Obviously I was wrong.'

Steve shook his head, and cross his arms. 'I don't think you were wrong. From what I've seen and read about Dr Banner, he's a very closed off person. He has to be. He doesn't want any more people hurt because of him. Because, you've got to understand, Penny, he has _killed _people. Good people, bad people…it doesn't matter. He's got a history.'

Penny frowned. 'I know. I _know_ about all that. I just thought that…he deserves some happiness, you know? Good people do bad things, sometimes. And it's not like he has any control over it. I was just trying to help him… gain some control.'

Penny felt the wind catch on her wings, and was pushed back a step from Steve. They were standing in an alcove, but there was still wind. She felt his grip on her arm tighten, and he glanced at her worriedly. 'Are you alright? Don't go flying away on me, Miss Penny.'

'I'll try,' she smiled, but then felt it fall. 'I'm just…so _tired. _I tried so hard to help him, and look what happened. I've just made things _worse. _Now he blames himself, and Steve, he could barely _look _at me,' she choked. 'He…we…'

Steve frowned. 'Something else happened. Tell me,' he urged, and Penny shook her head.

'He…he really _was _opening up. He said that…he just wanted one normal friendship, and now even that's ruined. God, I've gone and ruined _everything_ for him. I shouldn't have pushed my idea. He was finally opening up, and now he's going to withdraw even further.'

Steve laughed, and Penny frowned. 'What?' she asked, 'What's so funny?' She couldn't believe he was laughing at her pain.

'Miss Penny, I'm not laughing at you. I just think…sometimes you've gotta look at things from a different perspective. Normally, I'd have to be telling _myself_ to look at it from somebody else's shoes, but for once, I _am_ in the other person's shoes.' He put his hands on her shoulders, and looked straight into her eyes. 'Penny. There's no-one at fault here. You were both working for a just cause.' Steve shrugged. 'He allowed himself to open up a bit. The idea backfired. But that _doesn't_ mean that he has to withdraw completely. Not again. I don't reckon Banner thinks you've ruined anything. From what you've told me, he blames himself. _That _might make him withdraw, but not you. And he'll only withdraw if you let him. I saw the footage from the lab. He listens to you.' Steve straightened, and Penny frowned. His words made sense. 'And not just Banner,' he continued. 'The Other Guy listens to you, too. Try talking to Banner. Don't _let_ him withdraw. I don't think closing himself off will do anybody any good. It's a sure-fire way of him building up emotions until he has an incident.'

Penny nodded slowly. Steve was making sense. Maybe she shouldn't have run off so quickly.

But she'd had to get away. She couldn't stand the way he'd looked at her, like he cared for her, and then said that it wouldn't work. It was like telling her she'd won the lottery, and then saying: "Sorry. But you can't have the money. You can just look at it from there."

She had to talk to Bruce. Maybe she could properly convince him it wasn't his fault.

It was worth a shot.

Penny pulled her wings in, glad she had some control over them now. She wondered briefly if she could actually fly. That would be beyond amazing.

'Hey, Steve,' she said quietly, and he tilted his head.

'Yeah?'

'I want to try something before we go back inside. Do you know where we can find some rope?' she asked, and felt a smile grow on her face.

**AN: **** Phew. That was a long chapter.**

**Soooooooooooo. **

**What do you think? Is that alright? (I'm still going to keep writing it with the wings, even if you don't like it, just FYI, but I still want your opinions)**

**And just to let you know – NO. Penny will **_**NOT **_**be joining the Avengers. I dislike the idea greatly. The Avengers are the Avengers, and I would feel bad to just throw an OC in and expect the dynamic to be the same. **

***slight rant over***

**So. Please R&R! Reviews make me grin like an absolute idiot :D**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


	10. Chapter 9: Regretful Jolly Green

**AN:**** Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a while – back to school and all that (joy). But here's the next chapter. Heads up, though – bad science alert. I'm just making the sciencey stuff up as I go along (trying to keep it vaguely believable, but **_**come on**__**. **_**I mean – **_**superheroes**_**) Andddd…Yeah. Hope you like. Not a **_**lot**_** of Penny/Bruce interaction, but unfortunately, I have to get plot into this fic somehow.**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

**9. Regretful Jolly Green**

Bruce felt like an idiot.

He'd gone and ruined everything. He'd managed to destroy Penny's life, and then their friendship in less than three hours.

_Shit._

Bruce felt the Other Guy stirring restlessly, upset, reflecting Bruce's own turmoil. He couldn't believe he'd spoken to Penny that way. That he'd told her they'd never work…That he'd…called her perfect.

_Well, she __**is**__. _

It was true. For him, Penny was perfect. She was kind, intelligent, a scientist focussed on helping others…And she'd wanted to help _him _so badly. Her dedication to aiding him in his search for a cure was something that he admired. He hadn't had someone helping him like that in a long, _long _time. And Bruce didn't exactly have a long list of people lining up to help him. The only bad thing was the Other Guy's weird fascination with her. He wanted to meet her face-to-face, Bruce knew that much, but other than that, he had no idea what had captivated the Hulk's interest so much.

_Dammit, Banner. You've fucked everything up now. _

Not to mention that she'd… Once again, she'd surprised him by offering friendship. He couldn't remember the last time someone had trusted him enough to touch them, and she'd let him not only hug her, but then lift her up, too. Bruce would be lying if he said that lifting her up had only been a scientific experiment. For a few seconds, he just wanted to have close contact with someone. The hug had offered him only a tiny taste, and he'd craved the contact even more after letting go. Hence his reluctance to let go of her, once they'd discovered how light she was.

And she'd felt so good in his arms. He could have held her close for hours on end. He would never get tired of it.

Bruce found himself growing red at the memory of poking his head around the curtain, to find Penny clad in only pants and her bra. While he'd immediately jumped back, that hadn't been before he caught a glimpse of her pale, creamy skin. Needless to say, his heart-rate spiked considerably in the aftermath that followed his fumble. Even thinking about it made his heart leap.

_She's so beautiful._

_**No**__. Stop doing this to yourself. You just… Stop. Give up. You just pushed her away. It would never work now._

To try and draw his mind away from thoughts of his latest screw-up, Bruce focussed on the readings in front of him. He was running some scans on her blood, setting up the sample that he'd taken while she was sleeping, checking to see how much the gamma had altered her DNA, or if it were possibly reversible.

_Who am I kidding? Of course it's not reversible. _

_ I've just gone and ruined this girl's life._

The amount of self-loathing Bruce had felt when he fractured Penny's arm was nothing to what he felt now. When she'd walked out earlier…it had been hard for him to watch, but necessary. She didn't deserve someone like him. He'd already allowed himself to get too close. He'd already admitted to himself that it was for more than just comfort that he'd hugged her earlier, and more than just experimenting when he lifted her. He'd wanted to feel her in his arms, to just pretend for five minutes that maybe he could have a functioning relationship with someone.

That five minutes was over.

The computer beeped as it finished running its scans, and Bruce glanced up. He had a colossal headache – the product of stress, too much work, and not enough sleep – and the beeping sound grated against his ears. He lifted his glasses briefly to rub his eyes, before letting them drop back in place, and he looked at the screen. He quickly scanned over the analysis, expecting something similar to his own blood – gamma growths on the blood and DNA double helix.

What he found was something completely different.

Her entire DNA _structure_ was different. She didn't have a double helix…it looked like she had a _triple _helix in some areas, almost. Like it was thicker, double over. Which was impossible. It wasn't just a growth, it was a fully submersed mutation. It bewildered Bruce, because the gamma shouldn't have altered it to that extent.

'What…?' he squinted at the screen, and tapped a few buttons, bringing up a closer image. 'That's not…'

There were only a few sections that were recognisable as human DNA. Parts of it, he discovered when he compared it to avian genomes, were similar to that of a bird. This didn't surprise Bruce, since Penny had a pair of _wings_, and was now as light as a feather, but what did surprise him was that there were parts of it in which the majority of the DNA was _utterly_ different to that of a human's. There was one particular pattern that repeated with great frequency, but it was something that Bruce had never come across. What's more, from the looks of it, Bruce concluded that Penny had possessed that pattern _before _the gamma accident.

Which meant that she'd never been normal.

Bruce was in the middle of running her DNA through SHIELD's database, using its extensive record of DNA sequences for almost every species known to humans – and some that weren't – to find any traceable patterns in Penny's genes. Just as he set it up, someone walked through the doors. Bruce didn't look up from his work, but hoped it was Penny. He doubted it though, after treating her so horribly previously.

'Hey, Big Guy. How goes the DNA scans?' Tony asked, and walked over to Bruce, leaning against the tabletop. 'And speaking of comparisons, where _is _Angel? Don't tell me she wandered off to test her new wings?'

Bruce ignored the Other Guy, who snarled at the loose way to which Tony referred to Penny. Like she was incompetent or inconsequential.

Or perhaps it was guilt that made the Other Guy restless.

Bruce didn't answer Tony, but instead pulled the analysis of her DNA up for him to see. 'Look at this. I don't know _what_ the gamma changed, but most of this looks…'

Tony glanced it over, and rose an eyebrow. 'Like it was already there,' he finished with a small smile.

'What is it?' Bruce asked. He was clueless. Perhaps the billionaire would have a theory.

Tony frowned, checking the analysis with more concentration. After a while, he made a sound.

'Hmm.'

'Hmm?' Bruce inquired. 'You might have to be more specific.'

'You know the X-Men, right?' Tony inquired. Bruce stared at him blankly. 'My _God,' _Tony gasped exasperatedly. 'You have _got _to get some cultural experience. After this blows over, you're definitely coming to Stark Towers.'

Bruce rolled his eyes. 'Do you have a point?'

Tony nodded, peered at Bruce with a small frown on his face. 'Well. In the X-Men – both comics _and _movies, by the way – there's this thing called the "X-Gene". It's what makes certain people – mutants – special. Only a few of them have it.' He squinted at the screen. 'If I were to hazard a guess… or provide an analogy… Penny's got something like the "X-Gene". Only…if the mutants have the "X-Gene", then what Dr Masters has is something more akin to…a "Y-Gene".' Tony frowned. 'I dunno. I just made that term up. But what I _mean_, is that it's similar, but not the same. Hers appeared to be dormant, whereas in the X-Men, they have their powers already. Their genes were active. The gamma must have advanced her mutation, or activated it out of dormancy, I guess.'

Bruce frowned. 'So…You're saying that it was already there, only dormant. And the gamma unlocked it?' He pondered that for a moment. 'It _would _make sense.'

'Angel was already one of the gifted kids,' Tony grinned.

Bruce worked to keep a scowl from his face. Tony's referral to Penny as "Angel" irritated him. He didn't know why. 'Her name is Penny,' he said quietly, pretending to be interested in a particular aspect of the helix. He saw Tony smirk out of the corner of his eye.

'I'll _bet_ she's Penny. What ever happened to "Dr Masters"? Surely you're breaking some kind of sacred Bruce Banner Oath of Detachment by referring to her with such familiarity?' Tony grinned. 'Or am I just imagining things?'

Bruce looked up at him through his glasses. 'I'm sure I have no idea what you imagine, Tony. All I know is that a friend has been hurt because of me, and I'll do everything in my power to help her.'

Tony smirked once more. 'Touchy, touchy,' he grinned, before pulling out a small, glass device. 'Speaking of touchy, JARVIS has nearly finished hacking the SHIELD mainframe. Once you're done here, I suggest you come up to the lab to watch the showdown. I'm hoping that Fury will be… _furious,' _he grinned mischievously.

'Are you always such a child?' Bruce asked, although he was smiling. The billionaire's boyish humour was refreshing, in an immature kind of way. Aboard the Helicarrier, there wasn't exactly room for messing around, but Tony still managed to do so.

'Only if anything remotely serious is involved. Or governments. In this case, it happens to be both,' Tony shrugged, and made his way back to the door. 'You might want to think about checking up on the Tesseract scans, too. I reckon we might be close to finding it, now that we've got Loki's magic stick to play with.'

Bruce nodded. 'Yeah, alright. I get it. You want me up in the lab. I'll be done down here soon, and then you can show off to your heart's content. Just…don't make the situation worse, Tony. It's bad enough that we're prying into SHIELD's secrets. But to expose them?' He frowned. 'Maybe I shouldn't be around when you lift the curtain.'

Tony shrugged. 'Your choice. It's either that, or sit down here, waiting for Angel to come back. And that's a lost cause right there. Don't bother. She's gone back to her room to rest.'

Bruce straightened. 'Penny? How do you know?'

'I may have bumped into a certain Capsicle on the way down here. Said she'd been up on the roof, taking a spin with her new wings. I wasn't kidding when I said she'd wandered off earlier,' Tony remarked, and Bruce couldn't stop the shock from showing on his face.

'But she would have been blown away,' he said.

Tony shook his head. 'Nah. America had a tight grip, as I understand it. They used some rope. Gives a whole new meaning to the term "bondage".'

Bruce felt the Other Guy growl, and ignored any emotions that surfaced at the mention of the Captain and Penny together. Tony seemed to notice his discomfort, and smiled knowingly.

'If you're really worried, you _could_ go make sure she's alright, before joining us in the lab. I'm sure she'd appreciate it.'

Bruce shook his head. 'I'm kinda inclined to doubt that. Our last conversation wasn't exactly…pleasant.'

Tony rose an eyebrow. 'Jolly Green, there's nothing you could say to that girl to make her hate you. I have it on good authority that she's more likely to feel emotions of the _opposite_ sort.'

'And whose authority is that?' Bruce asked, unable to help himself. Tony thought she still liked him?

'JARVIS's. I _may_ have watched the heart-warming self-sacrifice of Dr Masters, when she was trying to cure you earlier,' Tony winced dramatically. 'And the conversation that came before. And the – uh – _kiss_. And then everything that happened when she woke up. When I said "_touchy"…_'

Bruce felt his face warm. 'That wasn't – '

'Hey, listen. Like I said earlier: you're tip-toeing. You need to strut. Go strut. Talk to her. Fix whatever you said.'

'It would never work, Tony,' Bruce said, exasperated.

Stark shrugged. 'It's the end of the world, Bruce. In the grand scheme of things, "never" is a pretty short time.'

Those were Tony's parting words before he left the med bay, leaving Bruce to ponder on them.

_ "Fix whatever you said."_

Could he fix it? As he stood and pulled his glasses off, Bruce certainly hoped so.

* * *

Penny was exhausted.

Her trials with Steve had been less than brilliant, and she soon found that while she might have the physical ability to fly, by no definition did she have the coordination or control. Metaphorically speaking, she was still learning to walk. It was silly of her to try and run.

Consequently, she was covered in bruises from head to toe, after crashing to the ground multiple times. The best that she got was when Steve essentially treated her as a kite, the rope tied around her waist, as she let her wings catch the wind.

Unfortunately, any further ideas of experimenting had gone down the drain much sooner than she expected, as Steve was called away by Fury. Penny assumed that the rest of the Avengers Initiative would have been summoned too, and so she decided to go back to her room for some well-deserved rest. Bruce had been right. The gamma had taken all the energy out of her.

She pulled Bruce's jumper back on, which she'd taken off earlier, and felt a guilty pang of longing as his smell enveloped her. She collapsed onto her bed with a muffled groan, as she realised that she wouldn't be able to sleep on her back.

Ever again.

_Oh for God's sake._

Penny couldn't sleep on her stomach. She _couldn't_. It made her feel like she couldn't breathe. With a grumble, she settled for a compromise, taking off Bruce's jumper mournfully, and lying on her side, with her wings stretched out behind her, her front facing the wall. Instead of wearing the jumper, she scrunched it up into a ball and hugged it to her chest, trying not to think about pretending that it was the jumper's owner that she was clutching.

_You've really screwed this up, haven't you? _Penny thought to herself, just before she fell asleep.

* * *

Bruce tapped his knuckles on Penny's door lightly, hoping that maybe she was there. He only had a short amount of time before Fury wanted to meet him back at the lab, to discuss Tony's blatant abuse of SHIELD cooperation, no doubt. He couldn't picture the one-eyed man taking kindly to his system being hacked by a person he viewed as a liability. And Bruce _knew _that was what Fury thought about them. Every single one of them was a liability; some more than others. Bruce was probably at the top of that list, just underneath Loki, in terms of people that Fury would be unwilling to ever trust fully.

When there was no answer, Bruce turned to leave. He guessed that he'd just have to check on Penny later. However, a hollow, English, polite sounding voice stopped him.

_'Dr Banner. I do believe you have clearance to enter Dr Masters' chambers.'_

Bruce froze. 'Who's there?' he asked cautiously, glancing around. After a few seconds, he saw no one, but the voice spoke again.

_'My name is JARVIS. I'm an AI developed by Mr Stark.'_

Bruce frowned…_JARVIS…_The name was familiar. Hadn't Tony been talking about something called JARVIS hacking the SHIELD mainframe earlier? He smiled wryly. 'So you're the little virus that Tony's got rooting through all of SHIELD's deepest, darkest secrets, are you?' he asked, trying not to feel like a fool as he spoke to nothing.

'_The politically correct term is Artificial Intelligence,' _the computer said, and Bruce almost laughed. Was that a disgruntled tone he heard? Stark really had created an intelligence. '_And I do believe you were about to check on Dr Masters,' _the voice continued.

'She's not in,' Bruce shook his head, and turned to leave.

'_Actually, Doctor, she is. She's resting. Her current heart rate is steady, so I think it's safe to assume she's asleep. However, as I mentioned before, you do have clearance to enter.'_

Bruce frowned. Why would he have clearance? Fury surely wouldn't have sanctioned that. Not after his display in lack of control during the previous day. 'I'm sure you're mistaken, JARVIS. Fury would never trust me that much.'

_'Quite right, Dr Banner. But Mr Stark cleared you for access to her room a few hours ago.'_

Bruce frowned at thin air. _Did he now?_

'Oh, well, that's very _kind _of him, but I think I'll just let her rest.'

'_Mr Stark has instructed me to advise you that perhaps you should take this opportunity to speak with her. Judging from the urgency of Fury's summoning, Mr Stark doesn't believe you'll have a lot of time to talk to her in the near future. Your work with the Tesseract will take priority.'_

Bruce frowned. Not speak to Penny? The idea distressed him more than he wanted to admit. He felt the Other Guy stir restlessly, and decided that perhaps laying eyes on her wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.

'Alright, fine. Can you open the door for me then, JARVIS?' he asked the computer, and was rewarded with a soft click as the latch on the door opened.

'_Of course, Dr Banner. Mr Stark has also instructed me to leave you with a message, in the event that you __**did**__ request to enter the room, which you have just done.'_

'And?' Bruce asked, as he stepped through the door.

_'I do believe he said: "Go get 'er, Brucie." And that's quoting him directly, Doctor.' _If Bruce was hearing correctly, it sounded as if the AI were embarrassed.

Bruce laughed softly, and closed the door behind him as he stepped inside the room.

What he found surprised him.

While his own room was bare, no decorations or furnishings other than what was already there, Penny's was littered with personal effects. There were various items of clothing scattered about the room, although it still maintained a neat quality. Bruce pointedly ignored the pale blue bra hanging over a chair, and cleared his throat out of force of habit, shooing all thoughts from his mind.

_Keep your head in the game, Banner,_ he self-coached, as his gaze fell upon Penny, who stirred as he cleared his throat.

She was curled up on the bed, knees drawn up, and arms wrapped around something he couldn't see. She looked peaceful, but Bruce knew that she must be anything but. Surely, she hated him now? As soon as he'd spoken to her earlier, he'd regretted it. Of _course_ she would hate him. He'd told her that…that they'd never work. They weren't compatible. It was true, but it didn't make it hurt any less.

He knew that she at least had some small degree of affection for him – he just _knew _it. He'd seen the heart rate monitors. Hers had mirrored his own. For the first time in years, he'd let someone in, and then he'd completely ruined everything. Inevitably.

_Great job you've done here, _he thought bitterly.

Her hair was down, spread across the pillow behind her in soft waves from being in a braid. Bruce resisted the urge to run his hands through it, and tried to push away any thoughts of how soft it would feel, of how nice it would be to just reach out and –

_No. Stop this. Who are you kidding? She'd never want you to touch her now. Not after the accident. Not after what you said._

He didn't want to wake her up, but didn't want to leave, either. To take his mind of the decision of staying or going, he looked around her room for a second. His gaze was drawn to the wall that was completely plastered with various sketches and drawings. Had she done them all while she was there on the Helicarrier? He saw various ones of animals: foxes, tigers, wolves, giraffes, eagles – her taste in subject matter seemed to be eclectic – but then he saw the ones of _him. _

Apparently the one she'd drawn the other day wasn't the only one. It certainly didn't seem like it, as he could see quite a few small, sketchy copies of himself staring back at him. Strewn across the table were multiple pencils and paint brushes, and in the very centre was a painting of a DNA double helix. It took Bruce less than a second to recognise it as his own. Somehow, she'd managed to make it look beautiful. He remembered her words from the other day: "_You're quite remarkable." _Was this how she saw it? If so, Bruce was having a hard time trying to convince himself that it would be better if she hated him. It was _hard_ for him to ignore that there was someone in the world that saw a good in him, and not just because they wanted to use him.

Once more, Penny stirred, mumbling something incoherently as her wings twitched. He resisted the urge to stroke one – he knew that they were ridiculously soft from earlier. Taking a careful step towards her, Bruce saw that she was clutching her glasses with one hand, and had some kind of fabric under the other. A blanket?

His jumper.

Bruce felt his heart rate skip a beat as an irrational thought sprung to mind. What if she was sleeping with it…because she still had feelings for him? Was it possible that he hadn't completely obliterated them earlier?

Cautiously, slowly, Bruce pulled her glasses from her grasp, and put them on the bedside table. Then he noticed something else.

She shouldn't have been sleeping on her arm that way.

The one that she'd – no, _he'd _– fractured had the majority of Penny's torso lying over it. She shouldn't have been able to do that without it causing her discomfort.

_Maybe her arm healed when the gamma hit her? _Bruce wondered, and decided to ask her about it when she awoke. If she ever spoke to him again.

As if on cue, Penny's eyelids fluttered open, and she stared up at Bruce sleepily.

'Bruce?' she asked, confused, and he felt his eyes widen. He should _not _have been in her room.

'It's just a dream, Penny,' he soothed shakily. 'Go back to sleep, and I'll go away.'

'But…I…' She frowned. 'I don't _want_ you to go away,' she said groggily, and Bruce felt his throat tighten. This woman would be the death of him.

'Well then… I – uh – won't go away,' he promised. 'You just have to close your eyes again.'

Suddenly, her eyes widened, and he knew that she was waking up. 'Please don't leave,' she whispered softly, and he saw awareness start creeping back into her eyes. He needed her to go back to sleep. _Now. _She wouldn't appreciate him being in her room without her permission.

'I'm not going anywhere, Penny. Just close your eyes, and I promise I'll be here when you wake up.'

'That's what you…always say…' she said softly as her eyes closed, and Bruce froze.

'You dream about me?' he asked quietly, but she'd already fallen back asleep. He frowned at her sleeping form for a few seconds before making a rash decision.

Swiftly, before he could change his mind, he leant down and pressed a soft kiss to her temple. 'I'm sorry. You're still perfect, Penny,' he whispered, and could have sworn that she smiled. Hastily, he pulled away and retreated to the door. He'd seen that she was fine – or relatively so. She probably just needed to sleep, and then she'd be alright. Ish.

As he closed the door, his gaze was drawn to a picture of two people. They looked very similar to Penny, and Bruce was willing to bet they were her parents. He wondered what they were doing now, to warrant that Penny should sketch the two of them. Then he remembered the "CLASSIFIED" section on Penny's file. Perhaps there was something about them in there? But why would it be _classified_? Certainly, now, Bruce's interest was piqued.

It was time to unveil SHIELD's secrets once and for all.

* * *

**A while later:**

_It's a wonder she's even on board this ship, _Bruce marvelled to himself after reading Penny's recently un-classified file. While Tony focussed on SHIELD's more nefarious actions, Bruce had discretely looked at her file straight away.

What he found was shocking.

His earlier curiosity as to why there was a sketch of her parents in her room had been satisfied. To put it simply, they were dead.

To put it more complicatedly – it was SHIELD's fault they were dead.

They'd both been SHIELD agents. Originally just her father – an American. But then her mother – who was British – was recruited as an emissary, then later moved onto field work, and the two of them worked together. Then, when an operation in Barcelona went awry, due to a novice agent blowing their cover, they'd both been caught in the collateral. They'd died when Penny was just twelve years old.

Bruce couldn't fathom how or _why_ Penny could have agreed to work for SHIELD, if her parents had died that way. No person in their right mind would want to work for the agency that killed their parents…unless she didn't _know?_ That particular thought troubled Bruce a lot. If she was here without knowing the history of her parents…that was an abuse of trust and awareness, surely?

Fury _must _have known if she either did or didn't know. Either way, the decision to bring her aboard was twisted. Bruce felt the Other Guy stir, shifting restlessly as Bruce thought about Fury using Penny's innocence against her, just to get what he wanted.

_Calm down. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for everything._

_ But __**is **__there? There's never a reasonable answer when the government is involved._

Bruce shook his head to himself, earning a strange look from Tony. _No. Don't look into it too much. Focus on what she needs right now. Not what she might not know._

'Hey, Brucie. You know Penny's folks were agents here?' Tony glanced up from a computer screen, and sent Bruce a knowing look. 'And now _she's_ working here. Who'da thunk it?' Apparently the billionaire had gotten bored of looking through SHIELD's secret files, and had taken a minor detour.

Bruce sighed. 'I'm sure it's nothing, Tony. Just focus on SHIELD. Penny isn't your problem.'

'Are you implying that she's _yours_?' Tony asked coyly, and Bruce rolled his eyes, trying to cover the pang of sadness that rang throughout his mind.

'Tony. You know nothing like that could ever work. I'm far too…_volatile_. Having a relationship with me would be like having a relationship with a rabid dog. Sooner or later, somebody's gonna get bitten.'

'It's a lucky thing Penny's good with animals then,' Tony smirked. 'I mean, that's part of the reason they brought her in, I assume. Her work with animals?' He paused, frowning in thought. 'Also, possibly the fact that she's a renowned biologist, has numerous degrees, already has ties to SHIELD through her parents, and – oh – _looks like your ex_.'

Bruce glared at Tony. Why was the man so compelled to push his buttons? The other day, it hadn't worked – Bruce was used to keeping his cool around irritating people; those unaware of the true threat that he posed. But after Penny's accident…he was feeling slightly more fragile than usual.

At that moment, Nick Fury walked in, a murderous look upon his face. 'What are you doing, Mr Stark?' he asked dangerously, and Tony rose an eyebrow.

'Kinda been wondering the same thing about you,' the genius said with a shrug.

'You're _supposed_ to be locating the Tesseract,' Fury growled, and Bruce felt the need to step in. SHIELD was keeping secrets, and now Fury was acting as if _they _were the ones in the wrong? However, this conversation also needed a peace-keeping medium. Bruce figured he could try.

'We are. The model's locked, and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile,' Bruce said calmly, pointing at one of the computers.

Tony was tapping away at a screen. 'And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss,' he said without looking up. Then he paused. 'What is Phase 2?'

As he spoke, Steve walked in, and dropped a large, heavy, futuristic looking assault rifle on the table with a _clang. _'Phase 2 is SHIELD used the cube to make weapons,' Steve said tersely. 'Sorry, the computer was moving a little _slow_ for me.'

Fury's eye widened, and he tried to explain himself. 'Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does _not_ mean that we're…'

Tony interrupted the director, 'I'm sorry, Nick. _What_ were you lying?' he turned around his screen to display many plans for different weapons and even…Did Bruce see _warheads _there? Tony looked smug, although his tone had bordered on angry.

Steve was _definitely_ angry. 'I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit,' he said bitterly. Another two people walked into the lab – this time Thor and Agent Romanoff. People were just turning up all over the place. From the stony expression on Romanoff's face, Bruce gathered that she already knew what was happening.

'Did you know about this?' Bruce asked her angrily, and saw her eyes widen.

'You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?' she suggested, and he shook his head.

'I was in Calcutta,' Bruce said shortly. 'I was pretty _well_ removed.'

'Loki's manipulating you,' she insisted, and Bruce felt the Other Guy stir at the accusation.

'And you've been doing _what_ exactly?' he scoffed.

Romanoff laughed. 'You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you.'

_No. I came because you promised me a cure, and look at how that panned out. _'Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy,' Bruce said. 'I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction,' he pointed at the screen.

Fury glanced around at the group, exasperated, as if searching for someone who would support him. His gaze fell on Romanoff, but even she didn't step up. 'Because of _him_,' he said eventually, pointing at Thor.

The Asgardian looked shocked. '_Me_?' he exclaimed.

Fury nodded. 'Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet, who had a grudge mass that levelled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly – _hilariously _– outgunned.'

Thor looked affronted. 'My people want nothing but peace with your planet.'

'But you're not the only people out there, are you?' Fury snapped. 'And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched. They can't be controlled.'

'Like you controlled the cube?' Steve spoke up. Bruce had to agree with the soldier's accusation. Apparently, so did Thor.

'Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, _and_ his allies,' the blonde-haired god said. 'It is the signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war.'

'A higher form?' questioned Steve.

'You forced our hand,' Fury insisted, looking to Thor. 'We had to come up with something.'

Tony pulled a face. 'A nuclear deterrent. 'Cause that always calms everything _right_ down.'

'Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?' Fury bristled.

Steve seemed to agree with the director on that point. 'I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep – '

'Wait, wait. Hold on,' Tony interrupted. 'How is this now about _me_?'

'I'm sorry, isn't _everything_?' Steve countered. Bruce couldn't believe how childish it all was. He could feel his temper slowly rising, as the intensity of the situation increased with every passing second.

'I thought humans were more evolved than this,' Thor said haughtily.

'_Excuse _me?' Fury snapped. 'Did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?'

'Did you always give your champions such mistrust?' Thor asked, and Natasha finally spoke.

'Are you all really that naïve?' she challenged the god. 'SHIELD monitors threats.'

This caught Tony's attention. '_You're_ on that list?' he asked Steve. 'Are you above or below angry bees?' Steve took a step towards him. 'Threatening!' Tony yelled. 'I feel threatened!'

_Stop being such a child, _Bruce groaned to himself. The man was incorrigible.

'I swear to God, Stark. One more crack…' Steve threatened, and Bruce couldn't help but agree. Everyone was making an already stressful situation worse. Bruce wished Penny were there. She'd know what to do.

'You speak of control, yet you court chaos,' Thor observed, and Bruce couldn't help it. He had to say something.

'It's his MO, isn't it?' Bruce asked. 'I mean, what are we – a team?' He shook his head. 'No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're... We're a time-bomb.' He found the analogy more than apt, since the Other Guy was involved. It was only a matter of time…

'You need to step away,' Fury said softly, and Bruce realised that he'd moved closer to the group than he'd been earlier.

'Why shouldn't they guy let off a little steam?' Tony grinned, and threw his arm around Bruce's shoulders. Bruce tensed.

_Get off me, you idiot. You have no idea what you're messing with._

Thankfully, Steve came to his rescue. 'You know damn well why! Back off!' he shouted at Tony, ripping his arm away from Bruce.

_Calm thoughts. It's fine. Think of something calming. Think of Penny._

'Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me,' Tony said softly, getting in Steve's face.

'Yeah, big man in a suit of armour,' Steve smirked. 'Take that off, what are you?'

Point blank, Tony let off a string of answers. 'Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist,' he said, far too smugly.

'I know guys with none of that, worth _ten_ of you,' Steve growled. 'I've seen the footage.

The only thing you really fight for is yourself.' Steve's tone had gotten darker, and Bruce sensed that this was evidently a touchy subject for the solider. 'You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play… To lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.'

'I think I would just _cut_ the wire,' Tony said with a smile.

'Always a way out,' Steve said bitterly. 'You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.'

Something appeared to snap in Tony. 'A hero, like _you_?' he exclaimed. 'You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle.'

That seemed to do it for Steve. 'Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds,' he challenged.

Thor laughed. 'You people are so petty. And _tiny_,' he scoffed.

The two men stepped away from each other, finally seeming to remember themselves.

'Yes. Right,' Bruce agreed. For someone so ineloquent, Thor certainly had a way of summing things up.

Fury cut across him. 'Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr Banner back to his – '

'Where?' Bruce asked. 'You rented my room,' he said bitterly. Behind him, he heard the door slide open, but didn't really care who it was. Only that it was another person to add to the stressful cocktail that was the laboratory, and the egos of the people contained within it.

Fury shook his head. 'The cell was just – '

'In case you needed to kill me,' Bruce shrugged. 'But you can't!' he exclaimed, exasperated now. People just _weren't _getting it. 'I know. I tried.' He let out a sigh. 'I got low. I didn't see an end…So I put a bullet in my mouth…' he stared darkly at the team around him, willing them to see. 'And the Other Guy _spit_ it out.' Bruce managed to calm his tone. Marginally. 'So I moved on. I focused on _helping_ other people. I was good, until you _dragged_ me back into this freak show, and put everyone here at risk.' He looked to Natasha, who was getting more and more unnerved as he spoke. 'You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?' Bruce could feel the Other Guy broiling beneath the surface, itching to be let out.

Natasha's hand went to her gun, as did Fury's. Did they not know that it just wouldn't _work? Nothing would save them from him!_

'Bruce.'

He spun to face the owner of the soft voice, and felt a guilty shame as he saw Penny standing behind him. His jumper was wrapped around her waist, and her wings slumped, jutting out of the shirt he'd altered for her. She looked dishevelled, but mostly it was her face that caught his attention. She had tears in her eyes. She took a half step towards him, but Bruce backed away. His control was fracturing, and once more, Penny was there.

Again.

However, _instantly_, the Other Guy backed off, as if Penny were a deterrent. Now he was no longer itching to get out in a fit of rage, but more curious…as if he wanted to _comfort _her. Why was she crying?

When she spoke, her voice was so small, and he could hear the pain in it. That being said, while it should have been hard to hear over the din the people around them were causing, it was as if she were the only person in the room speaking.

'Bruce…you didn't really…?' It was like she couldn't bring herself to say the words. He didn't really _what_?

_Try to kill yourself, _his genius brain realised was the end of her sentence. _Oh, God. She heard that? _He felt his grip tighten and – wait, _tighten?_

'Dr Banner,' Steve said. 'Put down the sceptre.'

_What? _

Bruce looked down at his hands to see that they were clutching Loki's staff. How the hell had that happened? He looked back to Penny, who was still standing there, looking haunted, her gaze boring into him, not even realising that he was holding a weapon of mass destruction.

At that moment, a computer beeped, and both his and Tony's attention were drawn to the large computer.

'All right,' Tony grinned, and Bruce let out his held breath.

'Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my party trick after all,' he murmured, grateful for the distraction of the Tesseract, grateful to be distracted from Penny's boring gaze, and grateful that the Other Guy had calmed down. He put the sceptre down, and started glancing over the screen with the readings.

'Located the Tesseract?' Thor asked, and Tony nodded, but then frowned.

'I can get there faster,' Tony insisted, seeing that the god was rearing to go.

'The Tesseract belongs on Asgard,' Thor insisted. 'No human is a match for it.'

Apparently Tony didn't care, because he turned to leave. 'You're not going alone!' Steve objected.

'You gonna stop me?' Tony challenged.

'Put on the suit, let's find out,' Steve said, equally as angry.

'I'm not afraid to hit an old man,' Tony insisted, and Bruce could practically _see _the testosterone emanating from the two men. It was almost tangible.

'Put. On. The. Suit.'

Bruce looked down at the screen next to him, trying to distract himself from the happenings around him, and felt Penny step beside him, placing a soft hand on his elbow. He was about to say something to her – try to explain himself, something, _anything _to stop the haunted look that still graced her beautiful face – when a reading on the screen caught his eye. 'Oh, my God,' he whispered, and felt Penny's grip tighten on his arm.

'What is – ' she started, but was cut off as a huge explosion rocked the ship. She screamed, and Bruce reached out for her as they were all thrown across the room.

Because that's when the floor caved in.

**AN:****So. Cliff-hanger, I _know. Sorrynotsorry. _Stuff's about to go down. Hope you liked :D Remember. Reviews = love**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


	11. Chapter 10: Flight Of A Lifetime

**AN: ****Hola! Here's another update for you, darling readers! **

**Big, massive, Hulk-sized, possibly green shout-out to all my lovely reviewers – you're amazing, and keep me writing faster! Thanks for all the reviews so far :D They make me smiiile!**

**Xxx **

**~Fen~**

**10. Flight Of A Lifetime**

Penny groaned.

She tried to move, but felt something heavy and cold pinning one of her wings. She bit down on her lip to stop herself from crying out. It _hurt. _

There was a lot of pressure on the wing, but luckily, she didn't think anything was broken. She felt dizzy, and disoriented, like she'd been turned upside down. Then she remembered the explosion that shook the Helicarrier, sending everyone flying like ragdolls. She remembered Bruce, reaching out towards her as she fell.

'Doctor,' she heard a female voice say, tight with fear and pain. Penny looked up to see Agent Romanoff, trapped by a huge piece of metal on her leg. The agent looked terrified, and it took Penny a second to realise that she was looking at Bruce.

_Bruce._

'Bruce!' Penny gasped, and saw him lying on the floor, propped up on his knees and hands. Nothing was pinning him in place, so she didn't know what was wrong.

Then she heard the beeping.

From up above them, Penny could hear the feint beeping of the heart-rate monitor. And she realised hollowly that Bruce's heart rate had exceeded at least 200bpm.

_Oh shit._

'Bruce, you gotta fight,' Romanoff insisted, and Penny could have growled at her. The agent wasn't _helping_ by talking to him. He was too far gone. If Penny could just _get _to him, she could touch him, make him look at her, make him calm down…

Bruce moaned deeply, and Penny felt a shiver run down her spine. All the times he'd nearly changed, he'd never been this bad. If Romanoff didn't shut up, he was going to kill her.

'This is just what Loki wants,' continued Natasha. 'We're gonna be okay. Listen to me. We're gonna be okay.' She paused. 'Right?'

'Bruce!' Penny tried again, but it was like he couldn't hear her. She was closer to him than Natasha, so if she could get his attention, maybe she could…save the agent.

'I swear on my life I will get you out of this,' the Russian promised. 'You will walk away, and never...'

'Your _life_?!' Bruce roared, and Penny squeaked. She saw Natasha pale.

'_Bruce,' _Penny said earnestly, trying to get his attention. She was just out of reach, but she didn't want to shout. What if shouting made him change?

_Stupid wing, stuck under the stupid pylon. Stupid stupid stupid!_

She stretched, trying to reach Bruce. If she could just get him to see she was _there…_

Something in her wing cracked, and she shrieked. That definitely got Bruce's attention.

His gaze finally flickered to her, his brown eyes wide and full of fear. 'No…' he moaned, just before Penny saw his shirt bulge.

She watched on in horror as the muscles on his back warped, closely followed by the muscles all over his body, tearing his shirt. Everything was twisting, warping, morphing, _changing. _

Penny heard a clang, and saw that Natasha was free. Without missing a beat, the agent started towards Penny, but she shook her head.

'Get out of here!' Penny snapped at her. 'I'll be fine!'

Natasha froze, her mouth open in hesitance. 'He'll kill you,' she whispered, sending Bruce a glance. He'd managed to move, like he was trying to get as far away from the two of them as possible.

'He'll kill us both, unless you get out of here _right now!' _Penny almost screamed. All those times before, when she said she wasn't scared of Bruce changing…She realised it had all been lies. Lies that she'd told herself.

She'd said she was scared of what SHIELD would do, not the monster. Like _she_ had the insight to think that far ahead. The reality was a much less romantic, much more deadly notion.

Penny was _terrified_.

And the Other Guy was going to kill her.

'_Now!' _Penny snapped at Natasha, and finally, the agent turned and ran. _Thank bloody God._

Penny turned over to where Bruce had rolled, and saw that he was looking directly at her with a face completely different to the one she knew. This face was primal, brutish, and undoubtedly _green._

She saw the sadness in his eyes as they morphed from brown to green, and felt her heart leap into her mouth.

With an almighty roar, the Hulk slammed his fist into a pipe next to him, and Penny screamed before biting her tongue to muffle the cry. She tasted blood in her mouth, and tugged at her wing, trying to get it free. The Hulk hadn't noticed she was there yet, and she bit down on her lip to keep from crying out again. She tugged again and again at her wing, and felt tears streaming down her face. If he killed her… Bruce would never forgive himself. Ever. He'd become shut off again, would probably subject himself to some kind of punishment _worse_ than living in poverty, and would never open up _ever_ _again_. She couldn't let that happen.

Not to mention that she'd be _dead._

Panting, Penny tried to lift the pylon from her wing. It was heavy, but it had only trapped the edge of it, so perhaps if she could reach a pole, she could use it to –

A horrifying roar cut her thought process off, and she froze. Perhaps if she stay still, he wouldn't…

She felt something huge and warm wrap around her waist, and she screamed in pain as her wing remained trapped. Instantly the pulling stopped, and she looked down to see large, green fingers circling her waist. She let out a muffled choke as she felt the pressure on her wing release, and she was lifted in the air.

The Hulk. He'd lifted the pylon.

'B-Bruce?' she stuttered, looking up into the Other Guy's dark green eyes. _Oh, God. Please let Bruce be in there. _She could almost see the resemblance, if she looked hard enough. But…Bruce was…He was so overwhelmed by the Other Guy.

She'd never seen anything like this. Whatever the Hulk was, he embodied pure, animalistic instincts and emotions. Penny felt his grip on her waist tighten, and she gasped in pain. 'Please!' she cried. '_Don't_. Put me down, please!' she choked.

Her arms were still free, so she moved them without thinking. He wasn't paying much attention to her words, just staring at her face, enraptured or angry, she couldn't tell. As his grip had tightened, her hands had flung out, and she cracked open her eyes hesitantly to see that one of them had landed on his cheek. Her pale hand looked tiny against his green skin, and she only realised what she'd done after she'd done it. She stared at her hand in horror. If she'd startled him…

The Other Guy had frozen, and so had Penny. Slowly, a disgruntled frown formed on his face, and Penny snatched her hand away quickly. He glared at it, and then she heard a deep rumbling coming from somewhere. The mystery of its origin was soon solved as she realised it was coming from his chest. She could practically feel him vibrating, despite the distance he was holding her away.

It made her shiver. There was something lethal about the being in front of her, although Penny had yet to see it demonstrated in action. She'd seen the videos. She'd heard how Bruce talked about it.

'Bruce. Please. Put me down,' she pleaded. She put her other hand on his, where it was wrapped around her waist, constricting her breathing and making her bones ache. 'Please,' she whispered.

Slowly, the Other Guy started to release her, bringing her gently to the ground. Her foot touched the metal, and she almost allowed herself to hope…

But then of course, as dictated by Murphy's Law: it all went horribly wrong.

Penny heard a metal clang and instantly, the Hulk froze. 'No,' Penny said, trying to keep his focus. 'No, no, no, no. Look at me, Bruce. Here I am. I'm right here. No-one's over there. No-one's here but you and me,' she insisted, but it was too late.

The Other Guy spun – dragging Penny with him – to see Agent Romanoff climbing up to a higher level. His eyes narrowed, and his grip on Penny momentarily tightened, making her yelp.

However, he was now no longer focussed on her, and – Penny forgotten – he dropped her, making a bee-line for the agent.

Penny hit the floor with a _clang, _and gasped as she landed on her injured wing. She could feel something warm trickling down her back, too. Blood?

Thankfully, Natasha had a head start, and seeing that the Hulk was now focussed on _her, _she halted her process on trying to go up, instead focussing on trying to get away.

'No!' Penny shrieked. 'Bruce, come back!'

He didn't listen to her.

Penny had two choices – run away, _fast_ and _far_ away… or follow him.

There was no contest.

'Bruce!' she called after the green figure, who moved with much more speed than she'd thought capable. It was actually quite terrifying. He was fast, every move violent and sharp. Not rounded, like his hulking figure would suggest. Too soon, Penny lost sight of him and the agent.

_Damn it. Damnitdamnitdamnit._

Penny felt her heart skip a beat in panic. What could she do?

_Get up to a higher level. That's where they were headed._

Penny started to climb.

* * *

She ran through the ship, ignoring the people in chaos about her, going every which way and direction. She didn't have time for them. She had to find Bruce.

Luckily, it didn't take too long to find him as the familiar, blonde-haired figure recognisable as Thor smashed across her path, to be followed closely by the Hulk. Penny guessed that Natasha had escaped the Other Guy then, or was…

_No. Do not think about what __**else**__ she might be,_ Penny warned herself. Because if she started, she might not be able to stop.

She rounded the newly made corner, jumping through the gaping hole to follow the green giant. She saw Thor haul himself up out of a pile of crates, dusting himself off like the collision had been nothing. He summoned a large hammer to his hand, and Penny stood watching, mouth open in horror, as the Asgardian used to hammer to deliver a thunderous uppercut to the Hulk, sending the giant crashing into a fighter jet.

Penny ran towards Bruce, worried for his safety, but she needn't have bothered. With barely more than a head-shake, the Hulk stood up and swiftly tore the tail of the fighter jet from the body of the plane, before launching it at Thor. Penny gasped as Thor ducked just in time, and sent his hammer – she remembered it was called Mjolnir – flying towards the Hulk. It hit him, and sent him tumbling once more, Mjolnir now in the giant's grip. He struggled in vain to lift the mystic hammer, but was unable to, and bellowed in frustration.

Penny gasped as Thor used the hammer to get the Hulk in a choke-hold, and she ran forward until she was closer, without being caught in the crossfire. The Hulk threw Thor from him, and turned to face the Asgardian once more.

'Bruce!' Penny cried, just as the windows shattered. She looked up to see a jet shooting straight at him. She screamed as he… absorbed the blows completely. He wasn't even scratched.

Penny was not so durable.

She heard a bullet _whizz_ past her ear, and flinched. She realised that she had absolutely no protection, and brought her hands up in a futile effort to defend herself.

But nothing ever hit her.

She could _hear_ the sounds of gunfire, and _knew_ that it had been aimed almost directly at her, but she couldn't _feel_ any mortal wounds of pain on her body.

_How…?_

She looked up to stare into the green eyes of the Other Guy, who had stepped in front of the bullets, protecting her. He moved closer, shielding her from the bullets by wrapping his arms around her protectively. She gasped as he pulled her towards him with a crushing force, although it was short lived, as he swiftly ripped another piece of the broken fighter jet to place between the two of them, providing Penny with a shield.

That's when he turned to face the jet.

And Penny knew what he was about to do, just before it happened.

_Why the hell would they shoot at him?! _her mind screamed as the Hulk launched himself out the window, directly at the jet. He landed on the nose of it, and the plane was sent spinning wildly. He roared at the aircraft, and tore at the front of it, trying to get to the pilot.

_Oh, God. He's going to fall. Or kill the pilot. _

_ Or both._

Penny glanced at the Asgardian, who was slowly hauling himself from yet another pile of machinery – a result of the Hulk's handiwork. She didn't have time to wait for Thor. She had to stop Bruce from doing something he would regret.

Closing her eyes, she ran at the open window, bringing her wings in close. She'd only practised this with Steve, but it mostly seemed to work.

Mostly.

With a squeak, she launched herself from the Helicarrier, her wings snapping out as she strove to span the colossal gap between her and Bruce. She instantly felt her wings catch the wind, and a parachute effect pressed against her, making her pull up short. She panicked briefly, but then remembered to angle her wings, and made them flatter.

The streamline of her wings gave her the angle she needed to make the distance, and with a grunt, she crashed into the fighter jet. Frantically, she put out her hands, scrambling for a hold.

'Bruce!' she screamed, just as she felt her grip slip.

She felt a warm hand grab her leg just as she started to fall, and her world turned upside down. Everything was spinning. The plane, the Hulk, Penny, the entire world.

She heard the pilot eject, and was vaguely aware from her upside-down position that the Hulk reached out to snag the pilot before he could escape. 'No!' she screamed at him, and saw him frown. He shook the pilot a bit, and then threw him away. Penny couldn't see him, but heard the parachute catch the air, and allowed a small wave of relief to wash over her.

Just before the jet exploded.

Penny felt the Hulk pull her out of the reach of the flames, seconds before they hit her, and the whiplash sent her head spinning.

And then they were falling.

She screamed, and felt the Hulk pull her to his chest, putting himself between her and the ground.

But they were such a _long_ way up.

Everything roared around them. The wind made it impossible to see or hear, and Penny felt tears form in her eyes. She could hear the Hulk bellowing as they fell – apparently he wasn't too happy about their situation either. The world around them was a blur of blues and whites and _green_, and within seconds, the wind was too much for Penny. She shut her eyes tight against the gust, and tucked her head down against the Hulk's warm chest, feeling the pressure squeeze her body as they fell.

She couldn't see anything, and so consequently didn't have any warning when the Hulk suddenly released her, throwing her away from him, just before they crashed.

'Bruce!' she screamed as she was torn away from his grip. She felt her world spin briefly, one final time, before she came to a violent halt on something…soft? She had stopped, but her head was still spinning, falling. She could smell something…

_Is that hay? _Penny wondered vaguely, before she passed out.

* * *

When Penny woke up, she was surrounded by itchy, scratching hay.

She groaned, and struggled to sit up. She was in the middle of what appeared to be a giant hay stack, and could see the blue sky through the hole she'd made when she hit it.

_Oh, God. Bruce, _was her first thought.

She reached up and hauled herself upwards, pulling with all her strength until she tumbled out of the hay, and onto the ground. She landed on her wing, and moaned in pain. Something was definitely wrong with it…Her side was stinging, and everything was itchy from the hay. Her leg also ached like _hell_. She remembered that was where the Hulk had grabbed her to stop her from falling.

The Hulk.

Penny felt a strangled sob make its way out of her throat. It had all happened so fast. They'd been standing in the lab, and then…everything went wrong.

Bruce had changed, and it was something Penny would never forget.

She put a hand over her mouth and choked back her tears. This was worse than when she'd woken up to discover she had wings. She started shaking all over, and felt her legs shudder. She couldn't pass out again. Not now. She had to find Bruce.

_Oh, God. _

It had been so terrifying.

Penny felt the tears drip down her face, and her sobs burst out against her hand. She could feel herself starting to hyperventilate, and she took deep, shaking breaths, trying to calm herself.

_It's okay. It's okay. You're okay. You're fine. Just in shock. You'll be fine._

_ You have to make sure Bruce is alright._

Penny took her hand away from her mouth, and spun around, looking for where he might have landed. Her gaze fell on a warehouse she could see on the other side of the field, and the massive hole in its roof.

She opened her mouth to call out his name.

* * *

'_Bruce_!'

_'Bruce! Where are you?!'_

Bruce's eyelids fluttered open weakly. He felt like someone had dropped a piano on him.

What had happened?

He remembered… being on the Helicarrier. There had been… an explosion. Anger. Penny. The Other Guy.

_Penny. Oh God, please not her._

'Bruce!'

_Oh. __**Oh**__! _Bruce could have yelled for joy. That was _Penny's _voice calling him.

'Over here,' he croaked weakly.

_Jesus. What happened? _

He glanced around him, finally taking in his surroundings. He seemed to be in an abandoned building of sorts. He looked up and saw a giant hole in the ceiling. Had he made that? What had happened? And in the name of all things holy… _Why_ was he always naked when he changed back?

'BRUCE!' came her voice, and he looked up to see a battered, bruised, bedraggled looking Penny staring down at him from on top of a pile of rubble. 'Oh, my God. Bruce. Are you alright?' She clambered down the pile, stumbling as she did. She slipped and fell, landing in a heap next to him.

'Penny?' Bruce asked worriedly, when she didn't move for a second. He used the time to pull a piece of metal over his… lower extremities, just before she looked up.

The smile on her tear-stained face broke his heart.

'Oh, God. Bruce!' she cried, and threw her arms around him. 'I thought you…' she choked. 'I thought you were dead.'

He exhaled sharply in a surprised laugh, and tried to get up into sitting position without moving her. She used the opportunity to wrap her arms around him tighter, and he felt her press her face against his bare neck. It felt warm, and right, and far _too_ good.

He cleared his throat. 'Uh. Not so much. Takes a lot more than that to kill me,' he said, glancing upwards. Had they fallen from the Helicarrier? If so, why wasn't Penny…dead?

'But how are _you _not…?' he left the question open, and Penny pulled back to look at him properly.

'Dead?' she finished for him, her green eyes wide. 'You saved me. We fell. You…you threw me into a field outside and I hit a haystack. It broke most of my fall. You saved me, Bruce. _The Other Guy _saved me,' she said persistently.

What she was telling him was impossible. It couldn't be… The Other Guy didn't _save_ people. He destroyed them. He ripped them apart. Bruce pushed away from her slightly. She had to be wrong. He wouldn't have saved her. He would have…_killed_ her, was the more likely occurrence.

And yet, when Bruce thought about her dying, he felt the Other Guy stir restlessly in his mind.

Penny finally seemed to notice his lack of clothing, and pulled her hands away from his bare chest. 'Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't even think… You…' she paused, and then smiled. 'You're not wearing anything underneath that piece of metal, are you?' she inquired, a nervous smile on her pretty face.

Bruce coughed. 'Uh, no. Perks of being an enormous rage monster.'

She stood up, and looked around, waving her hands in distress. 'Uhm. Let me see if I can find some clothes for you. Give me a second.' She made her way to the edge of the crater they were in, and that was when Bruce noticed her limp, and the way one of her wings leant to the side, like it was hurt. There was a large tear in the top she was wearing, down one side, and it was only being held together by a thread. Beneath it, he could see a long, deep cut with congealed blood crusting around the edges.

'Penny? Are you alright?' he asked, and she spun to frown at him. 'Your leg, and your back…and your wing…'

She smiled brightly. 'I'm fine, Bruce. Don't worry about me. I'm more worried about your exposed manhood than my leg and wing,' she joked. How could she _joke_ at a time like this?

'No, Penny, seriously. Did you get hurt when you fell?' That sounded more like the Other Guy.

She fell silent. 'Just worry about yourself for now,' she said softly, after a moment. 'We have to find someone who can help us. Then we can worry about me.'

Bruce frowned. If Penny was hurt because of him, _again_… He didn't know what he'd do.

'Give me a moment,' she said, just as a man appeared at the top of the pile. He looked like a security guard of sorts, and was panting, as if he'd hurried to climb the mountain of rubble.

'You fell out of the sky,' the man observed, and Bruce felt an amused smile tug at his lips.

'Did I hurt anybody?' he asked. _Aside from Penny._

'There's nobody around here to get hurt,' the man said. 'You did scare the hell out of some pigeons, though,' he grinned.

Bruce smiled. 'Lucky,' he murmured.

'Or just good aim,' the man said with a kind smile. 'You were awake when you fell.'

'You saw?' inquired Bruce, and the man nodded.

'The whole thing.' The man looked upwards at the hole. 'Right through the ceiling. Big, and green, and _buck-ass_ nude.'

Penny laughed, and Bruce felt his face flush. The stranger seemed to notice her for the first time.

'And you,' he said, pointing. 'This green feller threw you into one of the haystacks, right before he crashed. I thought you were an honest-to-God angel, what with the wings an' all that.'

'I saved her?' Bruce asked quietly, and the man nodded.

Penny spun to face him, her face sad. 'I told you that already,' she said quietly. '_You_ saved me. Why can't you believe that you did something good?' she asked.

'Because it's not in my nature,' he said brokenly. How could he save things? All he was good for was destroying.

As Penny frowned at him, her brows knitting together to form a cute little v-shape, the guard tossed something down to Bruce.

'Here. I didn't think those were gonna fit you, 'til you shrunk down to a regular-size feller.'

It was a pair of pants.

* * *

When the guard tossed the large pair of pants at Bruce, instantly, Penny forgot her sadness and focussed on finding something else for him to wear. Then she remembered something, and looked down at her waist. Bruce's jumper was knotted around her hips.

She undid it, and by the time she looked up again, Bruce was standing, pants on.

_Looks like you missed __**that **__awkward moment._

Penny _utterly_ ignored the tiny part of her mind that grumbled at missing said moment.

She clambered over the pile of rubble, and once more, slipped, just before she came to where Bruce stood. Before she hit the ground though, he caught her, and she remembered the other night when he'd done the same thing as she'd fallen into his bedroom.

His warm arms were wrapped around her, and she tried not to stare at his bare chest, which was inches away from her nose. He had more chest hair than she'd imagined.

But she didn't find that off-putting _at all_.

She was definitely right about him being fit. He wasn't Captain America, but he definitely had the muscles to prove that he was more than healthy.

_Focus. Shirt. Give it to him. _

She didn't move.

_ Stop looking at his chest, and stand up._

She could already feel the blood rushing to her cheeks as she stood up straight, and held up the shirt, offering a nervous smile. She didn't trust herself to look into his eyes yet.

'Th-this okay?' she asked, waiting for him to take it.

He confused her when he shook his head.

'You look like you need it more than I do. Your shirt's barely hanging in there, and besides, it'll cover your wings. It's long enough.'

She frowned. 'But you don't have a shi – '

She was cut off as a piece of cloth hit her in the face.

'Oh! Sorry about that, missy. Wasn't aiming for your face, there. I found a shirt too.'

Penny pulled the shirt from her eyes, and glanced up at the security guard, who was looking down at them both bashfully.

'Thank you,' Bruce said, and finally let go of Penny so he could shrug the shirt on.

'Are you an alien?' the man asked, drawing curious glances from both Penny and Bruce.

'_What_?' Bruce inquired, and Penny couldn't keep the smile from her face.

'From outer space. An alien?' the man clarified.

Bruce laughed. 'No,' he said, and the man frowned.

'Well then, son,' he stared at Bruce seriously. 'You've got a condition.'

Penny burst out laughing, but then grew quiet at the bemused look that Bruce sent her.

_What? It's __**funny**__, _she thought to herself.

'But what about you, missy? Are you an angel?' the guard inquired and Penny's mouth gaped open, unable to answer, dumbstruck by the question. He truly thought she was an _angel_?

'She just might be,' Bruce said quietly, and for the first time since crashing, the smile reached his eyes.

Penny glanced at him sharply, but when he only continued to smile, she felt her blush deepen.

_Stop doing this to yourself. This path can only lead to one thing, _she mentally warned.

_ Crying and rehabilitative chocolate bingeing._

* * *

A while later, and the guard had found not only clothes for Bruce, but a means of transport and some cash, too.

'I'll repay you for all of this, when I get back…' Bruce trailed off. He couldn't really say: "When I get back _home_." He didn't have one, as such. More…places to stay.

However, the guard looked at the beat-up motorbike standing in front of them, and shrugged. 'It's no trouble. There's not a lot of money, so don't worry about it. As for the bike…I wasn't using it. Tell you the truth, I'm not even sure she'll start.'

'Thank you so much for your help,' Penny said, and then looked at the bike nervously. Her apprehensive expression told Bruce all he needed to know about her relationship with motorcycles.

'You've never ridden one before, have you?' he asked with a smile.

'Yeah… Not so much.'

The guard held up a battered looking helmet. 'You'll be wanting this then, I take it?'

Bruce nodded, and accepted the black helmet gratefully. Not that he wasn't a competent driver, but the safer Penny was, the better he'd feel.

'Here,' he beckoned to her, and she adjusted his jumper, which she'd slipped on to cover her wings. Something warm stirred in Bruce. He definitely liked seeing her wearing his clothes. It was a weird, primal, guy thing, he suspected.

_No. Stop this. You pushed her away, now deal with it._

_ But…_

'Uh.' He brought himself back to reality. 'Just pull your hair to the – no, not like that – here,' he smiled. 'Let me.' He rested the helmet on the bike seat for a second, and pulled the elastic out of Penny's hair, since she didn't seem to understand what he wanted her to do. Before Bruce realised what he was doing, he was running his fingers through it, feeling the soft texture. Then he realised his mistake. Penny's green eyes were on him, and they wordlessly judged him as he withdrew his hand quickly.

Apparently she didn't find him too guilty, though.

'Down?' she asked softly, and he regretfully shook his head. He'd wanted to take her hair down for ages now. It was always up, or plaited. He wanted to see it down.

'Done up, but low,' he said, almost mournfully. She smiled at him sideways as she hastily pulled her hair into a low, loose pony-tail and rose an eyebrow.

'This fine?' she asked, and he nodded, picking up the helmet. He tugged it on over her head, and smirked. 'What?' she asked suspiciously, after she'd adjusted it so that it was comfortable.

'Your face looks kinda squished,' he observed with a grin, and she flicked him. However, unlike earlier, she didn't stop to see if he was about to change. She seemed to realise that he wouldn't. It made Bruce's grin widen. Was she starting to relax around him?

'Well, that's only because I'm wearing this ridiculous monstrosity,' she stated.

'Well, that _ridiculous monstrosity,' _he said in a mockery of her English accent, 'is going to keep your ginormous brain safe, while we ride.'

She scowled at him, but through the helmet it just looked comical. 'Teasing someone's accent isn't nice,' she grumbled, and he slung his leg over the motorbike, settling at the front. He gestured for her to sit behind him, and she moved to comply, although not before hesitating slightly.

Her words made Bruce frown. He wasn't a nice guy. He'd killed people – _innocent _people. 'I think we've established by now that I'm _not_ a nice guy, Penny, ' he said bitterly as she wrapped her arms around his waist. However, she was holding on loosely.

'That's not true,' she said, before he started the motor. Her next words were murmured softly, so soft that he almost missed them. He was glad he didn't, because they made him feel warm and happy. They gave him hope, and so did her arms tightening around his waist.

'You're the nicest man I know.'

**AN: ****Daaaawwwwww. Cute fluffiness.**

**Yay for Penny/Bruce interaction! Much more to come in the next few chapters :D I've finally (kinda) got an idea of where this plot is going to go **_**after **_**the Avengers. Because, believe you-me, it's **_**going **_**to continue afterwards.**

**Anyway – review review review! I'm always happy to chat, and I'm really loving writing this story – I mean, Bruce Banner is just **_**so**_** hard not to love. He's just so…**

**Perfect! ;)**

**Especially the way Mark portrays him **

**Until next time.**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


	12. Chapter 11: My Body Is A Cage, But

**AN: ****Boy. Wow. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I reaaaalllly wanted to get this chapter just right, and it's taken forever because I have exams and a thousand assignments due, and I struggled to find time to do anything. **

**BUT. I HOPE IT'S EVERYTHING YOU DREAMED IT WOULD BE. (I mean, for the beginning of Penny/Bruce times)**

**So much fluff in this chapter. It's also really long, so…I figure you'll all forgive me for the late update!**

**P.S. ****Disclaimer:**** I don't own anything – except my OC's – so not the songs that I reference and list.**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**

**11. My Body Is A Cage, But I'm Emotionally Fine…**

_~Boho Dancer: My Body Is A Cage (Arcade Fire Cover)~_

_My body is a cage that keeps me_

_From dancing with the one I love_

_But my mind holds the key_

_My body is a cage that keeps me_

_From dancing with the one I love_

_But my mind holds the key_

_I'm standing on a stage_

_Of fear and self-doubt_

_It's a hollow place_

_But they'll clap anyway_

_My body is a cage that keeps me_

_From dancing with the one I love_

_But my mind holds the key_

_Standing next to me_

_My mind holds the key_

_I'm living in an age_

_That calls darkness light_

_Though my language is dead_

_Still the shapes fill my head_

_I'm living in an age_

_Whose name I don't know_

_Though the fear keeps me moving_

_Still my heart beats so slow_

_I'm living in a cage that keeps me_

_From dancing with the one I love_

_But my mind holds the key_

_Standing next to me_

_My mind holds the key_

_Standing next to me_

_My mind holds the key_

_My body is a cage_

_We take what we're given_

_Just because you've forgotten_

_That don't mean you're forgiven_

_I'm living in an age_

_Turning in the night_

_But when I get to the doorway_

_There's no one in sight_

_I'm living in an age_

_Realising I'm dancing_

_With the one I love_

_But my mind holds the key_

_Standing next to me_

_My mind holds the key_

_Still standing next to me_

_My mind holds the key_

_You're standing next to me_

_My mind holds the key_

_Set my body free_

_Set my body free_

_Set my spirit free_

_Set my spirit free  
_

* * *

Bruce was painfully aware of how close Penny was to him.

Her arms were wrapped around his waist, and she was pressed up against his back. He was focussing on trying to keep that particular thought out of his head, since he felt like twice the monster he actually was.

_You almost killed her and now you're enjoying her being close? What kind of messed-up, twisted are you? _he asked himself bitterly.

He just focussed on driving the motorbike. It was easy. He'd owned one before, and apparently the saying that it was just liking riding a bike held some credit.

_But what __**else**__ happened up there? _he wondered, his mind drifting back to his earlier worry. Penny had been hurt pretty badly, and he was certain she was in more pain than she was letting on. Surely it hadn't all been because of the fall? He was surprised that she hadn't mentioned anything.

Actually, he _wasn't_ that surprised. She went out of her way to make sure that he was comfortable, that she didn't cause him any stress. She made it her job to make sure he was at ease for as much of their time together as possible. It made him frustrated, because he wanted to be able to help her without worrying about the Other Guy. And he _knew _that he could do it. He _could _be there for her. He just needed some more time…some more time to get it straight in his head…that she could never be anything more than a friend to him.

At this rate, that time might take close to centuries before that thought finally settled in.

But he would do it. He would work to be whatever she needed. He could handle little stresses. He'd lived in _India, _for crying out loud_. _This one waif of a woman couldn't _possibly_ be enough to break his control. He would make it work, if not for himself, then for Penny. It was cruel to be so two-faced. To say that they could never have a relationship and then crave for more – even if he did it _secretly_ – it was a betrayal to Penny. She deserved more than that from him, after what she'd been through trying to cure him. _She deserved more._

So he would stop.

He would push her away.

Because his body was a cage.

* * *

As soon as Bruce started moving, Penny squeaked, and wrapped her arms even tighter around his waist. His stomach was warm, and she pulled closer to his back to shield herself from the biting wind as they zoomed along the highway.

As the wind whipped by on either side of her, she winced, struggling to keep her wings close to her body. Despite Bruce's jumper holding them together, the wind still shifted them slightly, and she inhaled sharply whenever it did. Her left one hurt whenever she shifted it, and she remembered the crack she'd heard when she'd been calling for Bruce earlier, just before he changed. She wouldn't be surprised if she'd fractured something. Falling down the mound of rubble probably hadn't helped either.

The cut along her side was bothering her too, although it had stopped bleeding a while ago. When they stopped, she'd have a look at it properly then. But…her leg had stopped hurting, so that was a plus. When the Hulk had grabbed her to stop her falling from the jet, it had _really _hurt. She knew there were already bruises forming beneath her pants legs, but it didn't hurt to walk. Only when she pressed it against something.

Before Penny realised what was happening, she found herself nodding off against Bruce's back, resting her helmet-protected head between his shoulder blades. However, he didn't protest, and so when she woke a while later, the sky was pink with the setting sun.

She sat quietly for a while, with her head on his shoulder, just staring at the horizon until felt herself wake up properly. She stifled a yawn, which made her body stiffen, and Bruce glanced behind him.

'You alright?' he called over the wind, and she nodded against his back. 'We're getting close to a town. I can see lights in the distance. We'll stop there for the night.'

'Why don't we keep going?' Penny asked, and then paused. 'Where _are _we going, actually? Some kind of SHIELD base?' Bruce shook his head, and said something, but his response was whisked away by the wind.

'What? I can't hear you!' Penny said loudly in his ear, and he nodded.

A few seconds later, and they pulled over. They'd been riding for about four hours, and Penny was stiff. Her arms felt numb from being clasped around Bruce's waist tightly for the majority of their travelling time, and she found that she couldn't actually get off the bike.

Bruce swung his leg off, and turned to her, tilting his head to stare at her with a questioning eyebrow.

'I appear to have lost the use of my limbs,' Penny said sheepishly, and Bruce grinned.

'Poor defenceless fawn,' he admonished. 'Do you want some help with that?'

She shook her head. 'No, thank you. Just give me a moment. Let the blood flow.' She slowly hauled her leg up, but halfway, got stuck. Bruce rolled his eyes, stepping towards her.

Carefully, he wrapped his hands around her waist, and when she lifted her leg once more, he helped to pull her off the bike. He wasn't expecting her to be so light though, apparently, as they stumbled a few steps, until Penny was – once again – in his arms.

'We've got to stop ending up like this,' he murmured quietly, and Penny stared up at him, smiling. If she wanted, she could just lean up and kiss him. He was that close.

And Penny realised that she really _wanted _to kiss him.

However, he seemed to realise to realise their proximity too, and his eyes widened. Hastily, he straightened, and withdrew his hands from her, turning to lean against the bike. It was like he didn't want to touch her.

'Thanks…' Penny said quietly, flexing her muscles, bending her knees and other joints. She reached up to pull Bruce's sweater off, and this time managed to do it by herself. However, halfway, she hissed as her left wing caught on the jumper, and the cut along her side stung in protest.

Instantly, Bruce was by her side, his face worried. 'You alright?' he asked, peering down at her cut.

Penny tried to shrug, but pulled a face as the wound twinged in sharp, stabbing pain.

'Your wing…and your side…I saw you limping, too.' Bruce's tone was dark, and Penny just _knew _he blamed himself. She sighed exasperatedly as she tied his jumper around her waist.

'Stop it,' she growled, and brought her hand up to his face. She was aware that since the crash, he'd been hesitant to touch her, and she could only imagine what he'd been thinking along the motorbike ride…their bodies pressed right up against each other…It must have been hard, to be so close, but to not allow yourself to go any further. Penny had practically felt the unease and turmoil oozing from him.

Right now, he was looking at her solemnly, his eyebrows twitched down at the middle in a sad frown. His eyes were full of regret and guilt as they took in her bruises and wounds. If she hadn't been a little worried that she might have a concussion, Penny would have said that she saw…_wanting_ in his eyes. But mostly, she saw regret.

And it _wasn't _his fault.

'Enough,' she said, pulling his chin up so that he would look at her eyes, and not her injuries. 'I'm _fine_.' She saw his sceptical look. 'Emotionally. Which is what you're really asking, isn't it? You can see the cut. You can see how I'm holding my wing. And my leg is bruised from where the Other Guy grabbed me. That's all.' Penny sighed. 'Evidently, I'm not _physically _fine, but you could already see that. So, what you're asking me…is if I'm emotionally fine. And I am,' she insisted. 'I don't blame you, _at all_. I hold nothing against you. I never have. But it makes me want to know – are _you _fine? Emotionally?' Penny paused when she remembered to whom she was talking. 'Sorry. What am I saying? Of _course_ you're not fine. That was insensitive of me.'

Bruce frowned, and she felt his cheek move beneath her hand. 'You weren't being insensitive. You were being _compassionate_.' He practically choked the word out, and Penny felt her heart twinge for him. 'But, I wasn't talking about me…I was talking about _you,_' he continued slowly.

She rose an eyebrow. 'Studies show that when someone wants to talk about something, but don't know how to bring it up, they subconsciously – or consciously – insert the subject into conversation, but focus the topic away from themselves, in the hopes that the other person will notice.' She tapped him on the cheek lightly, to try and lighten the mood. She didn't actually know if her words held any truth, but they sounded convincing. Penny was pretty sure she'd done it a couple of times in her life, too.

Now Bruce smiled. 'But that would mean that _you _are the emotionally unstable one. Since _you're_ the one who brought it up.'

'But _you're_ the one who was originally curious about being alright,' she protested. 'And since I _am _alright, ipso facto – _you_ are not.' Penny smiled now. It was a childish argument, but she felt a bit better.

Then she saw Bruce's frown return.

'I'm always fine. I have to be,' Bruce said darkly. 'And right now…Evidently, as you put it, you're not _physically _fine, and it's getting dark.' He cast his eyes towards the purpling sky, and Penny's gaze followed his. The sky had long since lost its pinkness, and now the sun was out of sight. He turned back to Penny and nodded. 'Come on. Let's pull into a motel. Check you out. Get some rest.'

Penny blushed at the mention of checking her out, but Bruce didn't seem to notice his choice of words. Then she remembered why they originally pulled over. 'Wait. Where _are_ we going? That's what I asked before we pulled over.'

His mood seemed to darken even further, and his next words were quiet. 'New York, New York.'

* * *

When they eventually pulled into a dingy little motel, Penny was exhausted. Bruce knew that she wouldn't mention it, but he could tell she was fading. Her injuries were taking more out of her than she was letting on, and he could feel a dull sort of panic growing in his chest, which had been developing ever since he saw that she was injured. He needed to check to see how bad it was. How badly…_he _had hurt her.

He would have checked earlier, but she'd insisted that they needed to get moving. That she'd be more comfortable indoors.

He could understand that, having the added hindrance of his "condition". If _he_ had a giant pair of wings, he wouldn't have wanted people gawking and staring at him either. Luckily, thanks to the small amount of cash provided by the guard, Bruce was able to pay for a room for them to stay in, as well as buy some medical supplies from the small shop on the corner. He'd left Penny in the room while he collected the supplies, and also bought some food. He didn't know if Penny was hungry, but he was _starving._

What could he say? Gamma radiation was hard work.

* * *

Having her first shower with wings.

_So. This is how it ends, _Penny thought to herself as she tried to manipulate wings into the shower. She was having no luck.

Then, she realised that her wings simply weren't going to fit, and she felt a pout form on her lips. She couldn't _physically _fit in the tiny shower, so she had to make do with the bath and sink.

She resolved her fate to having a half-bath.

Fifteen minutes later, and she was all clean, or as clean as she could be. The motel shampoo and conditioner wasn't particularly nice, and left her hair kind of dry, but she'd washed it in the sink, so she hadn't been holding out much hope for it anyway.

She tugged Bruce's jumper back on, and debated wearing her pants, but decided it hurt too much to bend down, and since it came down to mid-thigh, his jumper was practically a dress anyway.

She squeezed her hair dry as best she could without moving her wing and cut side, but gave up and just let it hang in damp waves around her face, staining the jumper dark. It would dry by morning, she figured.

She lay down on the bed, face-down, so that she wasn't lying on her side, or her injured wing. Her mind wandered aimlessly, and she soon found herself shaking slightly. Then she realised that she didn't know _why _she was shaking, and brought her hand up to her face to watch it tremble.

_Probably from everything that's happened. You did fall from a Helicarrier and meet the Other Guy._

_That __**was**__ a terrifying experience, _Penny thought to herself.

She was entirely surprised that she wasn't dead. She'd thought he would kill her for sure. Imagine Penny's surprise when he'd actually _helped _her, instead of ripping her to pieces. She wondered why he hadn't. Maybe she could ask Bruce about it. She knew he didn't remember his time spent as the Other Guy, but perhaps he had an insight to offer.

But…he'd been so hesitant towards her since the fall. Like he didn't want to break her. Which implied that he thought she was _breakable. _Well. She'd just have to show him that she wasn't as fragile as he thought she was.

Soon enough, she stopped shaking, and found her eyelids drifting shut. It might have had something to do with her exhaustion, or her shock, or the blood loss. She didn't know.

All she knew was that she welcomed it.

* * *

When he got back to the room, Penny was sprawled out across the double bed – the _only _bed in the room, Bruce might add – on her stomach, her wings splayed out on either side of her, wearing only his jumper. Her hair was damp, and her feathers looked wet, too. She must have had a shower while he was gone. That was good. That meant that her wounds were already partly clean.

Bruce closed the door behind him, and started setting things out on the table next to the bed, trying not to wake her. God knew she needed the rest.

Once again, Bruce was able to observe her sleeping, but for some reason, she looked much less at peace than when he'd observed her earlier. She still had the frown that had been present when he'd seen her asleep last time, but now it was more pronounced. It was like she was still worrying, even in her sleep.

His gaze travelled to her legs, but not because he wanted to ogle. He could see a large, purplish mark spreading across the majority of one of her calves, almost shaped like…a hand.

_But only the Other Guy would have hands that big, _he thought to himself.

_She __**did **__say that he grabbed her. But why? _A thousand horrible scenarios played throughout his mind, most of them involving Penny trying to escape the Other Guy, and failing as he reached out to grab her leg. It was the only thing that made sense. The Other Guy didn't really do nice.

Full of regret, Bruce reached out to tuck a loose lock of hair behind her ear before remembering himself, and her eyes fluttered open sleepily.

Her gaze quickly sharped on him, and Bruce froze. He offered her a small smile by way of apology, but Penny didn't get offended. She just smiled, and brought her slender hand up to squeeze his, before releasing it and sitting up.

'Sorry. I – uh – just picked up some medical stuff,' Bruce said quickly, trying to cover up his slip in self-control. 'Bandages. Antiseptic. Medical needle and thread kit.' At the mention of a needle, Penny pulled a face.

'Needles? Really?'

He shrugged. 'I don't know how bad your cut is. Speaking of which, I'll check that out first. Make sure it doesn't get infected. Do you know what you cut it on?'

She shook her head. 'No. But I don't think it was anything metal, if you're thinking of tetanus. A shard of glass, most likely. It was certainly bleeding enough.'

Bruce tilted his head, not sure how to ask his next question without seeming rude. 'Do you mind if – uh – …Your shirt?' She seemed to understand his discomfort, and reached behind her to grab the collar of the jumper. Swiftly, she pulled it off, and Bruce had to struggle to keep his pulse calm. He could already feel it spiking nervously. It was weird. A stupid reaction that he only seemed to have when around her.

_No. Enough is enough. You need to keep a handle on everything now. She's hurt, because of you – yet again – and it's your job to keep her safe._

_ You could have __**killed **__her, _he reminded himself._ Just be grateful for that you didn't, and stop wanting more._

Steeling himself, Bruce looked Penny in the eye, focussing on anything but her mostly bare body. She was wearing a different bra to earlier – the blue one he'd seen hanging on her chair – and he'd have to have been a blind man not to notice that she looked incredibly appealing in it.

_But you __**will**__ ignore it, _he reminded himself, and held up a cloth.

'Antiseptic first,' he said quietly, and she nodded. She was watching him silently, as if gauging his reaction. She didn't look cross, just…slightly embarrassed. He wouldn't react. He'd pushed his feelings down, and pushed her away. Now…even if she was right in front of him…he wouldn't – he _couldn't _– act on his feelings.

She pulled on her pants, and Bruce didn't miss the flash of pain that passed over her face. He glanced away, feeling his anger towards Loki bubble to the surface. It wasn't just Bruce's fault. It was Loki's fault that Penny was hurt.

'Lie on the bed. Face down,' he instructed, and she complied, turning her face so that she could watch him while he worked. He stared down at the long cut and winced. It was about half an inch deep, and ran down along her back, from under her wing down towards her hip. It would probably need stitches. It would _definitely _scar. The thought made him sad.

'How bad?' she asked quietly, and he shrugged.

'Well…You're definitely going to need stitches,' he said grudgingly.

She frowned. 'Damn. Really? I guess the fact that I had to hold a towel to my side while I showered was a bit of a give-away.' She sighed. 'I'm not looking forward to this.'

'Me neither. I don't have any anaesthetic.'

Penny's face paled. Bruce felt like a monster, and shook his head. 'I'm sorry,' he began, but she glared at him.

'What did I say, Dr Banner?' she asked dangerously. Bruce almost laughed. He'd never heard her sound so threatening, perhaps only when addressing the SHIELD guards the other day.

He rose an eyebrow slowly. 'No more apologising?'

'Exactly. So just…Get on with it, I suppose.'

Bruce held up the cloth. 'I'm going to clean it first. Then we'll see about stitches.'

She nodded mutely, and then stopped moving.

Gently, Bruce dabbed at the wound, cleaning out any dirt, and making sure there were no glass shards, or other foreign bodies stuck in it. Luckily, there wasn't, so he finished relatively quickly.

_Great. Now comes the fun part._

He looked down at her mournfully, and she sighed.

'Rightio,' she said in defeat. 'Please…Let's just get it over and done with quickly,' she said softly, and he nodded.

'I know how to do this. I've treated wounds worse than this before.'

She smiled. 'I really don't doubt you. I trust you. Utterly.'

Now Bruce smiled. 'Well. We'll see if you still have a good opinion of me once I'm finished.'

'I know I will.'

* * *

As he worked, Penny decided to make small talk.

She hoped it wasn't distracting him, but it was certainly distracting _her_ from the pain of the needle.

'So…what was it like in Calcutta?' she asked.

'It was…busy,' Bruce answered. 'And technically, it's Kolkata now. Since 2001, actually.'

'Why's that?' Penny inquired, wincing at the needle pierced her skin. She bit her lip and felt a tear slip down her cheek.

_No. You will __**not**__ let him see you cry. It will just make him feel worse._

'Renaming places after British imperialism. Calcutta is anglicized pronunciation, Kolkata is traditional,' Bruce informed her. 'Politically, it's now Kolkata.'

'Were you…happy there?' she ventured, and felt him pull the thread through her skin. The feeling made horrible shivers travel along her spine.

'Not…_happy_, exactly.' He seemed to mull the thought over. 'I was safe. To a certain extent, at least. I was out of the way, and around people who didn't know about me or my condition. They didn't treat me any differently, and so…I could just get on with my job without worrying about the Other Guy. Mostly because my thoughts weren't on him.'

'I probably ruined that mindset,' Penny realised with a frown.

He laughed shortly. 'You might have ruined my mindset, but you've helped in a lot of other ways, Penny.'

'How, exactly?' she inquired. 'Every time I was around you, I nearly made you change.' She took a deep breath. 'Then, I caused you more stress by trying to use gamma to cure you, and only ended up making things worse, and gave myself wings, and I know you feel bad about everything, and it's just _unfair – _'

Penny was silenced by a warm hand on her mouth. She squeaked in surprise and glanced up to see Bruce staring down at her with a soft smile on his face. His free hand was over her mouth, stopping her from speaking, and after a long moment, he removed it.

He didn't say anything, though, and Penny frowned. 'What are you smiling about?' she asked, feeling her own smile grow.

The smile on Bruce's face vanished. 'Nothing,' he said. 'I just wanted you to stop apologising.'

'I wasn't – '

'Yes. You were.'

She scowled at him. 'Fine. Proceed.'

She felt him brace his hand against her back once more, although this time, it seemed softer, like he wasn't so hesitant to touch her as he had been before.

The thought made her smile through her tears as he began stitching her up again.

* * *

It took him a little while, but he managed to sew up Penny's cut quite quickly, considering how long the wound was. As soon as he started, she'd turned her head to the side, not facing him. For the first half of the process, he wondered why, but then he realised that she was sparing him. Turning so that he wouldn't see her cry.

When he'd been halfway, she turned to him when he put his hand over her mouth, and he saw her red eyes, puffy – the evidence of tears – and his heart broke. He'd made those tears.

Now that he was finished, she was looking at him once more, and he saw the tear stains on her face.

'Shut up,' she growled, wiping furiously at her tears, before he could say anything.

'I didn't say anything,' he protested, putting the bloody cloth and needle in the bin.

'But you were thinking it. And it was annoying, because it's not your fault. You're helping me. It just hurt. That's all.'

'You did well. You didn't even make a sound,' he said softly. 'I'm sorry…' – a glare from Penny – '…that it hurt you.' I'm not sorry for anything else. Just that it hurt you,' he lied quickly. He was sorry for a lot of things, but it seemed to upset her when he apologised, so he kept his regrets to himself.

'It's fine…It's just been a long day,' she said with a sigh. 'Even though I slept for most of it.' She frowned. 'God, Bruce. When was the last time _you _slept?'

He shrugged. 'Don't worry about me,' he said, and she stared at him. 'Yesterday,' he divulged under her persistent gaze.

'Being unconscious doesn't count, Bruce,' she said, her tone warning slightly.

'A couple of days ago, then, I guess.'

'For how long?' she inquired, folding her arms across her chest. Bad decision.

Bruce managed to keep his eyes on her face, however, although he struggled to form a coherent sentence. 'I – uh – a couple of hours,' he said honestly. _Please uncross your arms._

'After this, _you_ are sleeping,' she said confidently, and uncrossed her arms. _Thankfully_. 'As you are still my patient, until SHIELD tells me otherwise, I am your doctor. And I'm telling you: this is what you need. Sleep.'

He frowned. 'Alright. But first, I need to talk to you.' He remembered the file on her parents, and disliked the thought of discussing it with her, but knew he had to. It was wrong for him to keep it a secret.

'You can talk while you take a look at my wing,' she insisted, and tilted her head. 'Can't you?'

He didn't say anything, and although her eyes widened marginally, she didn't push him for a response. 'Can you stretch out your wing?' he asked quietly, and she tried to comply, stretching it out about halfway, before she hissed in pain.

'No further,' she winced, and he nodded.

'I'm just going to have a feel around. See if I can find what's wrong.'

He ran his fingers along the bones of her injured wing, relishing the soft, silky feel of her feathers, whilst scolding himself that he shouldn't. He paused when she made a small sound of pain, and ran his fingers along the length of bone beneath his fingers.

'Here?' he asked, and Penny nodded. 'Well, this is your radius, if I recall my avian biology correctly. It doesn't feel like a break. You'd be in more pain if it were. Unfortunately, there's not a lot I can do about it.' He paused. '…Bandage it so that you can't move your wing, and then don't use it, is what I'd suggest if it were a break or fracture.'

'I think I might have fractured it,' she agreed, 'when the Other Guy – '

Bruce's head snapped up. 'Did I _hurt_ do this?'

'No,' she assured him, and shook her head. 'It was me. I was trying to get your attention, but my wing was trapped under a pylon. I stretched, and heard something crack.' Bruce felt his frown deepen. 'Bruce. The Other Guy _helped _me. He pulled the pipe off. I would have been trapped otherwise,' she told him.

He felt the surprise register on his face. 'You didn't mention that earlier.'

Penny smiled. 'I don't know how many times you saved me when we were under attack, Bruce. It was a lot. First, you got me out. Then, you protected me from bullets when SHIELD…'

She stopped, and her smile turned into a glare. It surprised Bruce, since he was unaccustomed to seeing anything other than a smile, or cute frown on her face. This scowl was full of hate. 'SHIELD started shooting at you. And I was there,' she growled quietly.

'How did you…?'

'You protected me. You stepped in front of the bullets, and then used a piece of plane to shield me.'

Bruce tried not to let his shock show. The Other Guy didn't shield people from bullets.

'But it was _SHIELD_ who were shooting at me?' was his next question, and Penny glared at the ground.

'I am going to be having some _serious_ words with Nick Fury when I see him next. I do suspect that I'm going to be quite cross with him.'

Bruce smirked. 'You? Cross? I find that hard to imagine.'

'Do you _see _this scowl?' she asked, although her frown broke into a huge grin. 'And you even saved me _before_ we fell. You grabbed me, when I jumped onto the fighter jet from the Helicarrier, and – '

'You _jumped onto a fighter jet?'_ Bruce exclaimed, and Penny's eyes widened. Bruce felt his heart rate spike at the thought of her putting herself in harm's way. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on breathing.

'Hey. Bruce. It's okay. I'm still here,' she said soothingly, and took a step towards him, putting her hand on his arm. He kept his eyes shut until he felt her fingers smooth out the wrinkles at the bridge of his nose, erasing the frown from his face. 'Look at me, Bruce,' she said quietly, and he opened his eyes.

'There you go,' she smiled, and stroked his cheek gently. 'All fine. I'm okay. Because of _you_, I'm okay.' She bent down to pull up the leg of her trousers slightly, displaying a mottled, giant, hand-shaped bruise wrapping around her calf and ankle – the one Bruce had seen earlier. She stood up again, letting the fabric fall back down. 'You stopped me from falling, and then pulled me away just before the plane exploded. That's why my leg hurts. I believe the bruise is worth the whole _not dying _thing. Then, we fell…and you know the rest. You threw me into a hay bale to break my fall, while _you_ fell into the building. Bruce…' Her eyes were imploring. 'I would be _dead _if it weren't for you.'

His pulse still racing, Bruce pulled away from her and grabbed the bandages from the table. He didn't want to think about the Other Guy doing something good. It just didn't work like that. Bruce knew from experience.

Wordlessly, he motioned for her to spin around, and she complied, but not before he saw the hurt in her eyes. He felt a huge stab of guilt wedge its way into his heart and stay there. It wasn't that he didn't believe her…It was that he _couldn't. _He couldn't believe that the Other Guy was good… Because that would be…admitting that he felt something other than hate for him.

Gently, he folded Penny's wing back until it was pressed close to her back, and then bandaged it in place firmly, but not too tight. He wrapped the bandage over the injured wing, and under the uninjured one, so that the unharmed one would still be mobile.

He found the process of running his fingers over her skin quite calming, and after a while, felt his unease and frustration ebb away a little. He progressed from actions of stiff movement to more gentle ones, although his pulse was still beating a nervous staccato at the thought of her being…

_No. Not dead. Never dead._

At the thought of her being…anything other than right in front of him.

He refused to think of what it would be like if she died.

Once he was done, he handed her his jumper, and helped her tug it on. He could feel her sad gaze on him, and it made him uncomfortable, but also happy at the same time. It was for the same reason he'd smiled earlier. He was so unused to somebody _caring _about him_. _

Eventually, he risked looking up at her face, and found himself captivated by her green eyes. They were wide, and full of concern.

And it _killed_ Bruce to see them that way.

Bruce stared into her pretty green eyes for a while longer, letting them overwhelm him until felt his pulse beating steadily. He risked something, and cautiously reached up to grab her wrists, wrapping his hands around hers, holding them to his chest. Then, he leant forward and pressed his forehead against hers, staring at her silently, willing her to see that he wasn't angry with her. Just struggling to accept that he might have done something good.

She didn't pull back, and she didn't push him away. In fact…Penny was incredibly still, like the slightest movement might startle Bruce, or make him change.

'I'm alright,' he assured softly. 'I just…Don't do that again.'

'Do what?' she whispered.

'Don't…' His hands tightened around hers unintentionally. 'Specifically?… Don't jump off a Helicarrier, thousands of feet above the ground. Generally… Don't risk your life again, like that. I couldn't… I couldn't bear it if something happened to you.'

She bit her lip sadly, and it was almost enough to break Bruce's self-restraint. It was taking all his concentration not to kiss her, to try and make her see that she _needed_ to stay safe… She mattered too much.

'But I couldn't bear it if something happened to _you,'_ she said softly.

Bruce's resolve shattered, and he closed the distance between their mouths, bringing his lips to meet hers. She froze, but only momentarily. Bruce's hands let go of her wrists, one coming to rest gently her neck, the other on her back. He felt the shape of her feathers beneath her jumper, and smiled against her mouth. Cupping her cheek gently, he tugged her closer to him, so that their bodies pressed together, allowing no space between them.

Penny tilted her head to the side to deepen the kiss, and Bruce's grip on her tightened involuntarily. He felt a hot fire shoot throughout his body, and was well aware that his pulse had spiked again, as soon as her lips had touched his. But he didn't care. He needed her. He needed her to know that he hadn't meant what he'd said earlier…earlier on the Helicarrier. He'd tried to stay away, but he just couldn't. He'd said their relationship wouldn't work, but in that moment, kissing her, he didn't care.

He ignored the little voice in the back of his mind warning that he couldn't have relationships. That he couldn't get involved, that he couldn't get close. He ignored it all.

Penny slowly brought her hands up, so that her delicate fingers laced through his hair, and he groaned slightly. He wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer. His pulse was erratic, and the Other Guy was right by the surface, trying to take over.

But Bruce couldn't bring himself to stop.

It was Penny who pulled away first, although Bruce kept his grip tight on her, not allowing her to take more than half a step backwards. She stared up at him with those wide, green eyes, her lips slightly swollen, parted in a shocked smile as she inhaled short breaths of air. Bruce had to scrunch his eyes shut in an effort not to kiss her again. In an effort to restrain the Other Guy.

He felt her forehead rest against his, and could smell her right in front of him – like daisies – and he focussed on breathing.

_In…and out. Calm down._

'Are you alright?' she asked shakily, and he managed a nod.

'Just…give me a moment.'

Her hands were now resting around his neck, and slowly, he opened his eyes to stare at her. As soon as he saw her, he wanted to pick her up and kiss her until she was breathless, but she also calmed him. If he just focussed on her eyes, he could steady his breathing.

'Penny. I'm sorry. I was wrong earlier,' he managed to say after another moment of silence. This time, she didn't even protest against his apology, and as his hand rested on her neck, he could feel her pulse fluttering nervously, or with excitement – he didn't know. Did he really have that effect on her?

'Wrong how?' she murmured.

'I said we couldn't work. But I…I was wrong. I tried, but I'm not prepared to give you up. So…' He took a breath. Everything depended on the answer to his next question. 'Can you forgive me for saying that?'

She stared at him, her head tilted to the side in a bird-like manner. 'I think you've already redeemed yourself, Bruce. But…' now she smiled slowly, 'I'll forgive you anyway. On one condition.'

'Anything,' he breathed.

'Promise me that this is the last time you'll ever apologise to me,' she requested, her eyes sparkling. 'You've experienced enough regret for a lifetime, and I _knew_ what I was getting into when I – '

'I'm pretty sure I remember the exact _opposite_ happening,' Bruce interrupted. 'You didn't even know who I _was_ when we met.'

Penny rolled her eyes. 'I mean I knew what I was getting into, _after_ that. When I agreed to help you, knowing what you were.'

Bruce smiled softly. 'Alright. I accept. As long as you promise the same. No more being apologetic for everything you do. You practically apologise for _breathing, _Penny. I'll be fine with you around me. I've got a handle on the Other Guy.'

She rose an eyebrow. 'Really? Because that's not what I saw a few seconds ag – '

Bruce interrupted her by pressing a quick, gentle kiss to her lips. When he pulled back, she didn't speak, just smiled at him.

'I _will_ be fine,' he insisted. 'You don't have to worry about me.'

'Wrong,' she said quietly. 'I'll promise no more apologising, but I reserve the right to be worried about you.'

He narrowed his eyes at her. 'Sure I can't convince you?' he said slowly, and saw her blush. He bent down to kiss her cheek, stroking her neck lightly. 'I love your blush,' he murmured against her skin.

'I – uh, um – I'm sure that you…I-I'm sure that you _could _convince me, but…' she stuttered, and Bruce grinned, pulling back.

'I'm joking,' he said, and she nodded mutely. Then he became serious. 'Because…You realise…I…' he frowned. 'I can't…I couldn't…If I get too…' He found himself stumbling over words, and Penny shook her head.

'Bruce. It's alright. I understand. _Really. _Strictly on kissing terms only,' she said with a light smile. '_Bruce_,' she tilted her head at his frown. 'I'm just happy that you'd let me in this close. I don't care about _more_…I mean…Not really. Not right now. Just as long as you're happy. I don't know if you've realised, but I'd do anything to help you, SHIELD or no SHIELD. Anything to make you happy.'

'Well…' Bruce managed. 'You wouldn't have to do much. Existing in the first place seems to have worked pretty well,' he shrugged. 'Like I said. You're perfect.'

* * *

Penny felt her cheeks flame once more, and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him close to bury her face against his chest.

_He kissed me._

_ He. Kissed. Me._

Penny hid her grin in his shirt, and felt him rest his chin on the top of her head.

'I pushed you away…because I didn't want you to get hurt. I guess I'm just selfish, since my resolve _completely_ shattered a few moments ago…' he said quietly, and Penny pulled back.

'No. There's a better reason,' she said fiercely. 'You wouldn't just let yourself go for something like selfishness…'

He nodded. 'Yeah. I guess you're kinda right. I _do _know why.'

'Why?' she asked, curious.

'Because you care about me.'

That simple sentence made Penny's eyes cloud with tears. 'It's why I was smiling earlier,' he continued. 'I realised that you _really_ care. And…it's not something many people…' His voice was thick, and he cleared his throat. 'It's not something that many people have done recently. Care for me, that is.'

Penny felt her heart swell with love for the man in front of her. He'd spent so long pushing people away, not letting himself get close. All he wanted was to be close to someone. All he wanted was for someone to care.

Well then. She would bloody well _be_ that someone.

'Of course I care about you, Bruce. How could I not?' she smiled softly.

'Uh, do the terms: unstable, liability, dangerous, volatile and _monster _mean anything to you?' he asked with a light puff of laughter.

'Of course. But you're _not_ a monster, and I believe I can handle those other words. I think living with those words is _more_ than worth it, if it means being with you. And, you know, other words like…brilliant, genius, wonderful, kind, handsome and _caring_ kinda come to mind when I think of you, actually.' At this, he smiled the same beautiful smile that Penny had first fallen for.

'I want to _help, _Bruce,' she continued. 'I wanted to before, and I still do now. I mean… SHIELD are probably going to fire me for stuffing up…But however I can help…I'll always be here for you. All you have to do is ask.'

'You have no idea how happy that makes me,' Bruce said quietly, and pressed his lips to her hair. He pulled his arms around her waist tighter, although he made sure that he didn't crush her injured wing. Penny felt a shiver run down her spine. His voice did something wonderful to her. It was all mellow tones and honey, and it made her feel warm in all the right places.

'You have no idea how happy it makes me – that you've let me be this close,' Penny countered, and rested her face against the crook of his neck. He was warm, and she felt safe and she just wanted to stay there forever.

Unfortunately, forever wasn't an option.

They stood like that for a bit longer before Bruce eventually pulled away.

'How's your back?' he asked quietly.

'It's alright. Hurts a bit. So glad I had a shower earlier, though. I was all gross.'

'I wasn't going to say anything, but…' Bruce grinned boyishly, and Penny stuck her tongue out at him.

'Well, _you_ certainly need one, too. I'm not the one who fell through the building. You've got a particular tinge of dirty _grey_ about you,' she gestured with her hand and he nodded.

'I don't doubt it,' he laughed, and his eyes shone with mischief as he shook his head like a dog. Penny squeaked, pulling away from him to avoid the cloud of grey dust that departed from his hair.

Bruce grinned and grabbed her arm, pulling her back close to him. He brought his mouth down to kiss her hotly, and Penny gasped against his mouth. His tongue slid between her lips and she tasted dust and sweetness.

It didn't last long, however, and he pulled back after few seconds. Although when he did, Bruce was grinning a 100-Watt smile. 'Sorry – _not_ sorry. I was just trying something.'

Penny narrowed her eyes at him. 'I just had…a half-bath!' she protested, brushing her hands over herself, trying to get rid of the dust he'd shed.

'A half-bath?' Bruce inquired, an eyebrow quirked up as his smile grew.

'Well, I couldn't have a shower because of my wing. I couldn't…' She blushed deeply. 'I couldn't fit. My wings wouldn't fit in the shower.'

Bruce's grin widened even further. 'I'm sure it was the shower's fault. It was probably too small,' he said understandingly.

Penny's pout disappeared. 'That's right. So, I had to settle for a semi-bath thing. I washed my hair in the sink, hence the horrendous mess that it is currently in.'

'What you and I consider to be horrendous messes are clearly different,' Bruce observed. 'Since what you call a horrendous mess, I would call…adorably sexy.' He ducked down to press another kiss to Penny's mouth, and she rolled her eyes, trying to cover her blush.

'You taste like rubble,' she mumbled, and sat down on the bed, placing her hands in her lap so as to hide them as she fidgeted. 'And I didn't realise somebody could be…adorably sexy,' she ventured after a moment, making Bruce grin.

'Well, you're already defying the laws of nature, so why not just go the whole nine yards and be adorably sexy?' Bruce leant up and kissed her on the cheek, making her go even redder.

'Bruce,' she whispered, and then pulled her legs up so she could bury her head in her knees, hiding her face. 'I look like a tomato.'

'I love tomatoes,' he said easily, and Penny felt Bruce push her knees back down, trying to coax her back out of her shell of embarrassment. Penny quickly collapsed on the bed, pressing her face against the covers, trying to calm her flaming cheeks. After a second, she felt Bruce get off the bed, and could hear the smile in his voice when he next spoke. 'I'm going to have a shower. Do you think that'll give you enough time to stop being a vegetable?'

Penny felt her cheeks reach entirely new levels of redness. 'No…' she moaned into the quilt. 'I'll always be a tomato,' she said sorrowfully, and heard Bruce laugh.

'Well, too bad. I'm actually okay with that. I'll be out in a moment.'

He closed the door, and Penny let out a giant sigh. She felt so…embarrassed around him, sometimes. He made her so happy, but at the same time, she was so unused to someone complimenting her. Sure, she knew she was kind of pretty, but she wasn't receiving compliments and flirtatious advances from every second man that passed her by. Her shy nature prevented that from happening. Whenever someone _did _approach her, she just felt entirely too scared to accept their offer of a date, or a drink, or of spending time together. What if they didn't like her? What if they _did? _What if they did, and then found some kind of fault in her?

_Ugh. I never used to be like this, _Penny thought to herself. She used to be utterly at peace with herself. She used to be bold, she used to take risks. She used to _not squeak. _But all that had sort of…worn away as she got older, and instead of getting bolder, she kind of…reverted. She got shyer and shyer.

Which was why Bruce was so special. He saw past all the shyness and somehow got a glimpse of the girl beneath. Perhaps it was part of the weird protective feeling Penny had around him, but when she was in his presence, she felt a thousand times stronger, like she could handle anything.

…Except his compliments.

His compliments just made her blush.

* * *

Bruce was more than grateful for the hot shower. Penny hadn't been exaggerating. He was a particularly unappealing shade of grey, after falling through the building.

He was standing in the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist, contemplating what it was that Penny saw in him, exactly. He was a monster that put her in harm's way. He was a giant _thing _that had the potential to utterly destroy her.

And yet…_still_, whenever he thought that the Other Guy might hurt Penny, the angry presence in his mind snarled in disgust. As if he couldn't believe that Bruce would ever think such a thing.

'Hey, I have no problem with you wanting her safe,' he murmured to himself in the mirror. He frowned at the grey hairs he could see amongst his darker waves and exhaled sharply. The stress wasn't doing great things for him.

_And you've still got to talk to Penny about her parents, _he reminded himself.

With a sigh, he pulled on the boxers he'd bought at the supermarket. While going commando was well and good for some people, Bruce didn't fancy it when he still had to ride a motorbike for several more hours.

He yanked on the shirt and trousers he'd been wearing earlier, but although he'd tried to shake out as much dust as possible, they were still dirty. _Oh, well._

He walked back out into the main room to find Penny in exactly the same position he'd left her.

'You less of a tomato yet?' he inquired, figuring that he could ease into the subject of her parents. He didn't want to ruin the good night. Because, it _had _been a good night. He'd kissed her and…and she'd been alright with that. She'd been more than alright.

Penny huffedinto the quilt and Bruce rolled his eyes. She would be the death of him.

Bruce lay down on the other side of her and slowly slid an arm around her waist, letting it settle against her stomach. He felt her freeze, and he brushed his thumb against her navel gently, letting her know it was alright.

Slowly, she turned to face him, and Bruce grinned.

'I guess not,' he smiled at her rosy cheeks, and she buried her face in his shoulder with a tiny cry of defeat.

'Ugh! This is ridiculous. I hate my cheeks,' she said grumpily, and Bruce wrapped his arm around her back slightly tighter, pulling her closer to him.

'Your blush is one of my favourite things in the world,' Bruce said softly, and she didn't react. 'Do you wanna know why?'

'Not really,' she murmured, but Bruce let her know anyway.

'Because I know that _I_ made that happen. I know that somebody in this world feels like they can be normal around me, that they're comfortable enough to blush around me.'

'Pretty sure blushing is a sign of being _un_comfortable, Bruce,' she pointed out.

'Not when most people I talk to spend the entire time trying to figure out how they would survive, if the Other Guy decided to make an appearance,' he protested. 'You've never once thought like that about me. Ever.'

Penny pulled back from him and stared up with wide eyes. 'But…Bruce,' she took a deep breath. 'You've got to know…I _have_ been scared. I mean, at first, I was a bit scared of what would happen if you changed, with SHIELD…but then I realised…for a split second – _after_ you'd changed…that I was terrified. I won't lie to you. I thought I was going to die.'

He frowned slightly, and felt sadness slice through his heart like a dull blade. 'Penny, if you weren't scared, I'd be far more worried,' he said. It was the truth, but that didn't make it hurt any less. 'And I don't care if you were scared before – if you're thinking that this changes how I think of you. It doesn't. If it kept you alive, then I'm grateful.'

'But I'm not scared _now_,' Penny said quickly, and brought a hand up to his cheek. 'As soon as the Other Guy helped me, I wasn't scared. I'm fine now.'

'I know…' Bruce frowned. 'And that should bother me, because you _should _be scared. I don't have any control over him. But…the Other Guy…He _really_ doesn't want to hurt you. In fact, he hates the idea of you getting hurt.'

Penny's free wing twitched slightly, and Bruce smiled. 'What was that for?' he asked.

She shrugged, her cheeks glowing once more.

'Uh…my stomach rumbled,' she said weakly.

Bruce rose an eyebrow. 'Right…It has nothing to do with me talking about the Other Guy feeling protective of you?' he asked.

Her wing twitched again.

Bruce brought a hand up to Penny's cheek and smoothed it over. 'Tell me what you're thinking,' he requested softly. He needed to know how she felt. He had to know if she was truly able to relax around him. If not…then he wouldn't really be surprised. But she seemed so…calm, usually, despite knowing about the Other Guy.

'I'm thinking that I'm starving…' she said elusively, and Bruce let it go. He'd get the truth out of her, one way or another. She knew it was important to him.

'I got some kind of salad and a mystery pie,' he said, reaching over to grab the food. 'But I only grabbed one fork.'

Penny's smile returned. 'I think we're past that, don't you?' she observed, and he chuckled.

'Yeah, I guess so.' He popped open the lid of the salad and passed it to her while he brought out the mystery pie. Once they'd taken a few bites each, swapping the fork every few mouthfuls, he broke the silence, continuing. 'And that's why I want you to know that you can tell me anything. You can tell me how you feel about the Other Guy. Trust me when I say that I'll understand any viewpoint that you have.'

Penny was silent, and she stared pensively at the mouthful of pie – no longer a mystery, but in fact chicken – as if it were the cause of all her problems.

'Please tell me what you're thinking. Don't shut me out on this,' Bruce begged, and her gaze flickered to his.

'I feel…I'm not quite sure,' she said eventually. 'I guess…that I feel all jittery and weird when you say that the Other Guy feels protective. It's…I can't help but think of…' Something about her face clicked for Bruce. He'd seen that look before.

'Betty?' he inquired. 'You think this is about Betty Ross?'

Penny gave a tiny nod. 'But only because the Other Guy's never displayed behaviour like this, unless it was around her. I don't understand…I mean… I _do _look like her, kinda. It _must _have been more than a little disconcerting for the Other Guy to see me. Maybe that was part of SHIELD's original plan. They had me there because I look like her, and would maybe calm you down or something if you changed.'

A shadow passed over Bruce's face.

_SHIELD has more than a few things to answer for._

Something about his demeanour changed, and Penny frowned. Had she said something wrong?

'Bruce? Are you okay?' she asked quietly, and reached up to smooth out the frown between his eyebrows. He pulled away at the last second, and Penny's hand dropped to her side, rejected. 'What's wrong?' she inquired, and felt a nervousness bubble up in her chest. Something about him had changed.

'Penny…' he said slowly, and took one of her hands in his. 'There's something I have to tell you about your parents.'

**AN: **

**SO.**

**Bloody hell, that was a long chapter. I mean, like 9500 words. Blimey. I'm a little tired now.**

**BUT I HOPE YOU ENJOYED READING IT. I ENJOYED WRITING IT. I mean, yay for Bruce/Penny. And things. And I fiddled with the timeline a bit, since I reckon it would have taken a day or so for Bruce to get back to New York from where he fell. I dunno. Maybe I'm taking liberties, but I don't think it's too far of a stretch.**

**Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! I really love reading all your reviews, even if I don't get around to responding to them all – for that, I am sorry. But I shall try harder (it's a little promise I've made myself, since you're all being so lovely :D )**

**So, yes. Hope you enjoyed!**

**Until next time,**

**Xxx**

**~Fen~**


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